


Let's See This Thing Through

by whenhopefadestoblack



Category: The Originals (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-11-03 09:02:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 21,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10964019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whenhopefadestoblack/pseuds/whenhopefadestoblack
Summary: Random one shots of Freelin, as and when my brain allows me to think of anything.ON HIATUS. Basically, there's a lot of stuff going down right now so I won't be able to continue this for a while, but I promise I'll be back and writing as soon as possible.





	1. Known

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Early morning Freelin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (set after 4x07)

It's a blissful morning.

  
She's in Keelin's apartment, the wolf curled up with her head resting on Freya's lap, and it's nice, so nice she's dreading the inevitable moment in which her phone is going to ring. Keelin is drifting back to sleep after waking up a few minutes before, adorable in the first few moments in which she gained her bearings, blinking a few times and groaning at the light filtering through the curtains, throwing an arm over her eyes and twisting onto her side, burying her face against Freya's thigh. Freya had chuckled, smoothing a hand over Keelin's curls, smiling as she murmured unintelligibly. Now she's slipping back into sleep, her face against Freya's thigh and her arm looped around her knee, breathing steadying out. Freya could get used to this; peaceful mornings lazing in bed, time dragging into the afternoon with no family drama, breakfast in bed...

  
"You're thinking pretty hard there," Keelin's voice startles her, and she looks down to see her girlfriend forcing herself up slowly, eyes tired and hair a curly wreck around her face, only to tuck her head into Freya's neck, arms sliding around her waist and knees pressing into her thigh.

  
"I never pegged you for a cuddler," Freya's lips twitch as she tries to hold back her laughter.

  
"Hmmm, there's a lot you don't know about me," Keelin presses a kiss to Freya's neck, before lowering her head to the witch's shoulder. "So, what were you thinking about?"

  
"How I would love to have more mornings like this," that has Keelin breaking away to look up at Freya, smiling beautifully.

  
"Well, then I promise to do whatever I can to make that happen. Even go against your scary vampire siblings."

  
"There's no need, you have already gotten into Klaus's good graces. We can work on the rest of my family in time. Kol will be particularly enamoured with you I'm sure," at Keelin's raised eyebrow, Freya explains. "He didn't always know he was my brother, and when I met him in 1914 and I didn't immediately fall head over heels... Well, his words were along the lines of 'I always figured you fancied the ladies'."

  
Keelin's lips stretch into a grin, before becoming less pronounced as something crosses Freya's face.

  
"Would you really be interested in meeting them?"

  
"Yeah, I mean... Hayley is nice, Hope is adorable, Klaus seems okay in a scarily-protective way. Elijah certainly knows how to stir up drama, that's for sure. And Kol and... Rebekah?" she looks to Freya for confirmation. "I'm intrigued to see what they're like."

  
"Well, be warned, my family take a while to warm up to strangers. Don't take it personally."

  
"Trust me, I've dealt with all manner of family drama. Though not quite on the scale of yours, it helps you build up a tolerance to it."

  
Freya smiles, drawing Keelin closer with an arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her cheek before cupping her face to kiss her on the lips, slipping her tongue inside her mouth as Keelin curls her hands around the straps of Freya's sleep top. Keelin shifts slowly, moving her leg up and over so that she's straddling Freya's lap, sliding her hands up her neck and cupping the back of her head. Freya finds her eyes slipping closed, pulling Keelin closer by the hip, biting slightly on the others lower lip-

  
Her phone vibrates.

  
Keelin pulls back reluctantly, slightly breathless, cheeks warm, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against Freya's.

  
"And cue family drama," Freya sighs at Keelin's words, missing her warmth as soon as she removes herself from Freya's lap, landing against the pillows next to her. Freya pulls her phone from the side table, checks it and sighs, rolling her head to look at Keelin.

  
"I'm sorry," she reaches down and links her fingers with Keelin's.

"It's okay. We got almost..." She looks at the clock. "Nine hours of uninterrupted time. That's a lot."

  
"We spent six of them sleeping."

  
"So? I happen to enjoy sleep, especially when I get to spend it with a beautiful woman."

  
Freya blushes despite herself, and leans in to press a quick kiss to Keelin's lips.  
"I just need until the end of the day, maybe only until the afternoon. When I'm finished, I'll text you... Rousseau's? Drinks?"

  
"Hmmm, I think I'd much prefer if we just spend the night here," Keelin smiles. "Drinks at Rousseau's didn't go to plan last time... and here, we can have much more fun."


	2. Par for the Course

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keelin meets the family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as requested by raziel595 :)  
> (set after 4x07)

"How are you feeling?"

  
Keelin pauses in the motion of raising a slightly shaky hand to her mouth, the rim of the mug clasped in it just reaching her lips. Freya is standing in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest, watching as her girlfriend takes a second to think through the question she's been given.

  
"I'm good," she says unconvincingly, taking a quick gulp of her coffee before turning to face Freya with a smile, placing her mug on the counter. "I'm great. You?"

  
Freya rolls her eyes, steps forward into the other woman's space and places her hands carefully on her shoulders. She can feel the tension there, can see the worry in Keelin's eyes, how she's unconsciously gnawing on her bottom lip and digging her nails into her palms.

  
"Hey," she says softly. It's her turn to be calming Keelin, now, though she's worried that she won't be able to do as good a job as Keelin does with her. She doesn't have the patience or the friendly demeanour that Keelin must put into her job; she's not a doctor, and she's not used to being the one doing the comforting. "It's going to be okay. My family, they're... difficult, fiercely protective,and don't trust easily..."

  
"Yeah that's, that's not really helping-"

  
"But they've already met you. Well, three of them. You know that Hayley likes you, and Klaus... well, I will admit I was surprised by his admission, but he's changed a lot since Hope was born. And you know Hope already loves you."  
"It's the other's I'm worried about," Keelin slips one hand up to clasp Freya's over her shoulder, and she closes her eyes briefly, letting her forehead rest against the other woman's. "Elijah I've at least seen, but Rebekah, and Kol..."

  
"Will be happy for me. Us," Freya says firmly, squeezing Keelin's shoulders. "Like I said, Kol already pegged me from the start, despite his misconceptions... and Rebekah has gone through so much lost love that all she wants is happiness for both me and herself. Hey, look at me," Freya tucks a hand under Keelin's chin, tilts her head up so their eyes meet. "They're going to love you, even if it takes a while. If I can, they can too," she freezes as soon as the words pass her lips, stuttering whilst a half-smile appears on Keelin's face, her eyes glimmering.

  
"What was that now?" she teases, with a hint of teeth as her smile widens into a grin. Freya tries to form words but finds herself at a loss, colour spreading across her cheeks as she looks down. Keelin steps forward so that they're toe to toe, cupping Freya's cheeks and kissing her before she even has a chance to realise what's happening, and it's soft and sweet and exactly what she needs. Keelin is the one to pull back also, her nose nudging against Freya's before she steps out of her space.

  
"Come on," she says softly. "We have a family lunch to get to."

 

                                                          *  *  *

 

It's awkward at first, to say the least.

  
Hope is unaware of or ignoring the tenseness of the bodies around her, helping herself to the copious amounts of food that have been set up on serving trays in the middle of the table, which is ornately decorated and ridiculously large for the eight of them, and feels more like a dinner (interrogation) than a lunch.  
Keelin feels under-dressed, panic making her heart beat at a faster tempo and the thought that the majority of those around her being aware of it making it even worse. Freya had managed to get a seat next to her despite how her siblings had tried to intervene, and as if she's sensing Keelin's discomfort she slides her hand along her girlfriends leg until her reaches the hand pressed to the outside of her thigh, clasping it slowly and giving it a squeeze. She's smiling reassuringly, and Keelin manages a weak one back before their moment is interrupted (and really, the amount of times they're disturbed in the small moments of peace that they have is getting to be a bit ridiculous) by Klaus.

  
"So, Keelin, are you ready to discuss your intentions towards my sister?"  
Freya rolls her eyes- that was almost word for word with what he said to her when she brought back a guy to the compound that time many years ago. The intended effect, however, doesn't occur.

  
"Well, it doesn't matter what my intentions are," Keelin says easily. "That's up to her."

  
There's a moment of silence, and Keelin's bravado seems to falter slightly, but then Rebekah cracks a smile.

  
"Oh, I like her," she sips the wine (blood?) from her glass.

  
"Well, I knew our Freya here liked the ladies from the start," Kol smirks. "I'm just surprised she didn't tell the rest of you sooner."

  
"Freya is entitled to her privacy when it comes to her relationships, brother," Elijah intervenes. "Not all of us like to be in the spotlight."

  
"Really, brother?" Kol returns. "Well, you-"

  
"Okay," Hayley interrupts, loudly enough to cut off what Keelin assumes to be the beginning of an argument.

  
"We're here for Freya," Niklaus continues before she can. "I think we can afford to be on our best behaviour for an hour."

  
"I was hoping you'd be on your best behaviour in general, Niklaus," Freya comments dryly, her palm still curled around Keelin's, but now their joined hands are resting on top of the table.

  
"If I must. But no promises," he gives Freya a smile, and she rolls her eyes in return. "Anyway. Back to you, Keelin..."

 

                                                             *   *   *

 

"It was lovely to meet you, Keelin," Rebekah seems genuine in her approach, though something niggles in Keelin's stomach. She pushes it aside, hoping it's just nerves. "Ignore my brothers, they can't go a day without causing some new kind of drama."

  
"I noticed that tends to be the norm with the Mikaelson siblings. Not that it's a bad thing," she adds hastily. "Except, you know... it can be, for someone not related to you."

  
"Family is family," Rebekah takes it easier than Keelin expects, though she does have the grace to look a little apologetic. "As horrid as they can be. You'll be good for my sister. She hasn't had much in the form of companionship in all her years, with the exception of our aunt Dahlia and..." she trails off then, looking uncertain, and Keelin frowns for a second, but ultimately shrugs as Rebekah continues to look unsure of how to continue.

  
"Freya has exes, I'm sure," she smiles. "It's not like I walked into this blind. It hasn't exactly been a cake walk."

  
"Life isn't," Rebekah responds, before a dip appears between her brows as she frowns. "Freya hasn't had exes. Well... not plural," she exhales slowly. "But it's not mine to tell," the two glance at Freya, who is conversing with Klaus, sending them sideways glances every few minutes. "When she's ready to tell you, she will."

  
"Everything okay here?"

  
Freya has broken away from her brother and comes over.  
"Of course," Keelin smiles brightly. "Rebekah was just informing me of all your deep, dark secrets."

  
"Oh yeah?" Freya steps closer with a smile, and Keelin's hands circle her waist. "What exactly did she tell you?"

  
"That you have been holding out on me," she struggles to keep a straight face as Freya frowns, looking slightly worried. "You have danced on more than one table top."

  
Freya lets out a laugh, leaning her forehead against Keelin's for a second before kissing her gently.

  
"Well, I need to go... anywhere but here," Keelin chuckles as Rebekah quickly excuses herself, pulling back slightly to look at Freya.

  
"Well? What did you think?"

  
"They're a little... intimidating, but I can see that they care about you. A lot. Scarily so, actually. But we can go back to that another time."

  
"What was Rebekah actually talking to you about?"

  
"The usual," Keelin shrugs. "Family drama, previous relationships-"

  
"Really?" Freya looks startlingly nervous, and it causes the tension that had finally dissolved from Keelin's stomach to reappear instantaneously.

  
"Yeah, but... briefly. I mean, she didn't... it wasn't hers to tell," she looks at Freya purposefully, and the witch nods, catching her lip between her teeth.

  
"I think it's time I told you about the first time I fell in love."


	3. A Decent Person (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Person A is kidnapped and Person B goes on to save them, but it's in no way easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not particularly good at drama/fight stuff but I thought I'd give it a go :/  
> For the purposes of this story, the spell Freya performed with Hayley works how it is in the story.  
> (set between 4x07 and 4x08)

Outside of the limitations of her family, Freya would admit that she didn't get worried much- she didn't know how to, really.

Family had both been and never been there for her, and she'd been learning how to care (and worry as an addition) ever since she'd reunited with her siblings. That care and worry had yet to extend to others. Then she'd met Keelin.

Keelin who, despite everything that she did to her, put herself at risk to help her get the venom from Marcel, who helped her make the knife to destroy him. Who despite everything became someone she could come to love. She had loved easily before, but knew that she wouldn't be able to do that before. Mathias had been her first everything, and the loss of him and their child was something that would take more than half a dozen centuries to get over.

But she was getting there.

Keelin was everything she wasn't; optimistic, kind, caring. She was also fiercely protective, loyal to a fault, and Freya worried about her. She was the kind of person to throw herself into the fire to save kittens or puppies or something like that. All of that worry built up to climax on the day she went to the clinic to meet Keelin and she wasn't there.

 

                                                          *    *    * 

 

In fact, the clinic had been completely destroyed.

From the outside it had looked completely normal, and Freya had only been slightly worried at that point about the fact that Keelin hadn't shown up to meet her at Rousseau's like they'd agreed, and that her phone was switched off. Sometimes the clinic had a last-minute emergency, Freya knew that, and though Keelin couldn't ring immediately she always made sure to ring as soon as she could.

But after two hours of waiting, Freya had decided to go and see for herself. Now she was stood in the middle of the blood-splattered reception area, chairs thrown against walls and broken, claw marks on every surface to combat the blood, and bodies. So many dead, and from the greyness of their bodies and the veins lifting on their skin Freya can tell they're mostly vampires, except for a single woman who was clearly an unfortunate employee, neck ripped open and uniform shredded and bloody.

She's the only human there though, and though Freya searches every room, slowly growing more and more frantic, Keelin is nowhere to be found.

That would be more reassuring if there wasn't so much blood.

"Okay, okay..." Freya runs a hand through her hair, pinches the bridge of her nose before moving over to the body of the poor woman who had been caught in the middle of the supernatural frenzy. "I'm sorry about this... Sophia," she catches a glimpse of her name tag, swallowing before reaching into her bag, pulling out the small bag of candles in there and setting them in a small cluster between them, encircling them with salt.

A quick wave of her hand has them flickering to life, and she sets herself down and touches the woman's shoulder and hip, closing her eyes and concentrating. She's hoping this works- it's different to perform a spell with the dead rather than the living, but there's no time for semantics now.

"Ostende det siste. Ostende det siste. Ostende det siste...."

_"Hey, Sophia," Keelin walks out of the back room of the clinic, hair tied back off her face, back in her civilian clothes with a bright smile on her face. "You okay here until Jackie gets back? I'm meeting someone at Rousseau's and I don't want to be late-"_

_"Of course," Sophia smiles, pushing a file into place and raising from the seat behind reception. "It'll only be a few minutes. Should be- oh, can I help you?" Keelin turns as the door jingles open, her eyes growing wide as half a dozen men file in._ _Stereotypical bad guys, leather and scowls, and she moves in front of the reception as eyes darken, teeth sharpen and Sophia lets out a soft gasp._

_"Keelin," one of them speaks up, grinning. "We've been looking for you."_

_"Okay," Keelin speaks out slowly, blocking Sophia from them with her body. "Then let's take this outside."_

_"Sorry," ring-leader continues, stepping closer. "No witnesses." The next thing she knows one of them is looming over Sophia, ready to sink his teeth in, and she feels the anger grow in her gut so quickly she barely knows what she's doing next, but she's grabbing the vampire by the arm and throwing him over the reception, yanking him back against her and sinking her teeth into the junction of his shoulder. She throws him to the ground, breathing out heavily as she wipes blood from her mouth. She's screwed, totally and utterly screwed in the case of Sophia, but she can't think of that right now. She has vampires to kill._

"Ostende det siste. Ostende det siste. Ostende det siste..."

_They're dead. They're dead, Sophia's dead, caught by a vampire when she'd been distracted and she can't breathe for the pain in her chest because of it, sitting by her co-workers side and trying to hold back the tears building in her eyes. She'd had no choice but to transform with the arrival of more vampires, and now she was back in her human form, shivering against the cold of the air-con on her bare skin, covered with only a doctors coat. The door opens, and she looks up slowly, to see yet another round of vampires._

_"_ _You guys really put in a lot of effort this time," she raises to her feet, muscles aching, a little unsteady but she's not going down without a fight. If she holds out long enough, Freya will realise something's wrong, and whilst she knows she can hold her own, sometimes she needs a knight in witchy armour to help her. "Okay then," she lets the coat slip off her shoulders, dignity be damned in the face of danger. "Who's next?"_

"Ostende det siste. Ostende det siste..." she breaks off, feeling blood pool at her nose, at the back of her throat, but she forces herself through it. "Ostende det siste..."

_She's not sure how much longer she can stay conscious. Breathing a little on the wheezy side courtesy of some broken ribs, her lungs on fire and her head pounding, blood congealing her vision as she struggles into a sitting position, holding her side._

_"You put up a good fight, I will admit," she's dragged up to her feet by the chin, held there with a hand around her neck. "But it's time you came with me now."_

_She doesn't see much after that._

Freya breaks off with a gasp, wiping at the blood under her nostrils and clearing the blood from her throat. Her heart is pounding a mile a minute, and she's not sure if she's going to cry or throw up. But she knows she has to get out of here, and find Keelin. She pulls herself to her feet, grabbing her bag and slipping her phone out of her pocket, dialling as she exits the building.

"Klaus?" she stops to catch her breath in the cool air outside.

_"Freya. What has you calling me at three in the morning?"_

"I need your help. We have some vampires to hunt."


	4. I Got Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After losing Elijah's mind to the pendant, Freya continues to fight to get her brother back to his body. As always, Keelin is there to remind her that she needs to breathe every once in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a go at the request from Akira14, taking a break from the previous chapter (which I'll probably continue at some point) because I'm not in the mood for bloodshed. So, angst and fluff instead.  
> (set between 4x09 and 4x10)

Minutes drag into hours, and she continues to sit there. Long after Hayley takes Hope up to sleep, Klaus departing a few moments later to join her, but not before giving Freya's shoulder a squeeze as he breezes past her out of the doorway.

  
Eventually the flames in the fireplace die out and she's left with nothing but a cold that sets into her bones, and the echoes of Elijah's screams in her head.  
That's how Keelin finds her; hunched over the pendant, chanting unintelligibly, tears long since dried on her cheeks. She watches her at first, crossing her arms over and biting her lower lip, unsure whether or not to stop the witch in the middle of her practice. But as she waits, all that happens is Freya getting more and more frustrated, her words more harsh, and she stumbles over some of them, which in turn makes her anger grow.

  
"Hey, hey," Keelin quickly moves to Freya's side, placing her hands on her shoulder and forearm, jerking her out of her reverie and causing her head to snap towards Keelin. In the second before recognition sets in, Keelin sees the anger that she'd encountered when she first met the Mikaelson witch, the protective fury that drove her to commit endless horrors in the name of her family. "You've been here for hours."

  
"I need to finish this spell. Find a way to, to help Elijah-"

  
"You aren't going to help him like this," Keelin hooks an ankle around the chair and manoeuvres it so that Freya is facing her, head tilted up slightly so that their eyes meet. "You haven't slept in days. You've weakened yourself with your spells, you've been sat here for God knows how long-"

  
"I can't stop," she interrupts, standing and clasping Keelin's hands in her own. She doesn't notice the other woman wince, doesn't realise she's clinging to Keelin like a lifeline. "He's trapped in there," Keelin follows her gaze to the pendant on the table. "Shattered into pieces. Screaming. If I don't do _something_ , he's going to be stuck there forever. And I can't lose him, Keelin, I can't, I don't-" she dissolves into tears then, shoulders shaking, lowering her head so that her face is hidden.

  
"Hey, hey, shhh," Keelin fights her hands free from Freya's and wraps her arms around her shoulders, pulling her in for a tight hug so that Freya's forehead is pressed against her shoulder. She rubs her hands over Freya's back, feels the taller woman's hands slowly press into the small of her back. "I've got you. Just breathe."

  
She keeps her breathing slow and steady despite the pain in her chest, the tears threatening to spill from her own eyes, and feels Freya begin to do the same, her breathing becoming steadier and her heart slowing to an almost normal tempo. Keelin doesn't let go until Freya begins to pull back, taking hold of her hands as the witch continues to stare at the floor.

  
When she eventually looks up, her eyes are rimmed red and there are still tracks of tears on her cheeks, but she's breathing steadier and looks less like she's going to collapse under the weight of the world.

  
"Now you listen to me," she finds her voice slightly thick with emotion, swallows around it and gives Freya's hands a squeeze. "If there's anyone who can do this, it's you. Since I've met you, you have cured your brothers from a supposedly incurable bite, freed another brother from a five-year-prison, helped create a knife to kill a super vampire, stopped said super vampire and your previously imprisoned brother from being killed by the thousand-year-old wolf bitch, and managed to dance on top of a bar in the thinnest heels I've seen in my life without falling off," that has Freya laughing slightly, closing her eyes as a stray tear falls down her cheek. "You are a thousand-year-old, bad ass viking witch. And you are going to save your brother. But not like this."

  
Freya nods, slowly, taking in another deep breath. She leans forward so that her forehead presses against Keelin's, closing her eyes. She feels Keelin's hands on her cheeks, thumbs dredging over her skin to clear away the residual tears. When she opens her eyes Keelin is looking up at her, dark eyes flooded with emotion, and Freya places a hand over Keelin's.

  
"Thank you," she whispers, her voice a little hoarse.

  
"You can thank me after you've gotten some rest. So, how about we go and find a bedroom?"


	5. Long-Term

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five almost kisses (+1 actual kiss)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took foreeeever (well, three days) and I'm not sure if I like all of it yet, but I'm just gonna go with it and edit it later if I feel like it :l I think I'm going through Freelin withdrawal

_1\. You_

She never thought she'd be able to have moments like this. Moments of peace, moments of clarity, moments to reflect on the things that she had. For instance, Keelin.

She never thought she'd feel like this again, feel like there was someone worth risking her entire world for. It's in moments like this, where she's sat upright against the pillows with Keelin curled up next to her asleep, that she realises how lucky she is. Freya lowers herself slightly onto one elbow to take Keelin in fully; they'd fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning, the moon still high in the sky, and whilst they'd ended the night in an entanglement of limbs, Freya on her back and Keelin on her side, her arms around Freya's waist and her head tucked into her shoulder, when Freya woke against the brightness of the sun filtering through the windows, Keelin had rolled onto her front, her head turned away from Freya and face hidden by her hair.

She's breathing in and out deeply, and with the low back of her top Freya can see the expanse of skin; the points of her shoulder blades, the notches of her spine, the dimples on either side of her lower back. She hesitates for a moment, before her curiosity gets the better of her and she moves her hand to Keelin's back, her fingertips brushing her lower back from one side to the other before tracing back to her spine, brushing over each bump in a pathway upwards.

Due to the point of contact, she feels the exact moment Keelin wakes- feels the sharp breath she pulls in, her hands curling slightly into fists. Freya spreads her palm and brushes her thumb across the top of Keelin's spine. Keelin melts slightly under the touch, humming out softly, and it's too soon when Keelin rolls towards her, trapping her hand underneath her back and pressing into her side, looking up at her.

"Good morning," she murmurs, shaping the words around a yawn. Freya can't help the smile that graces her lips. "What?"

"Nothing. Just... you."

Keelin smiles back and props herself up on an elbow, so they're nose to nose. Freya's lips part at their sudden closeness.

"Me? Care to clarify?"

"...I'm good," Freya shrugs, and Keelin looks affronted at the fact, though there's a playful smile on her lips. "I have other things on my mind right now."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"This."

She leans forward to close the minute gap between them, breath against Keelin's cheek as she leans in to kiss her.

"Hope I'm not interrupting."

Freya jerks back at the voice, and Keelin turns so violently she almost falls off the bed, stopped by Freya's hand on her hip.

Klaus is leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his lips. 

"Sorry, sister. But we have work to do." 

 

_2\. Distracted_

"Keelin."

Freya skids to her girlfriend's side, landing on her knees and placing a palm against her arm. The other woman jolts away at the touch, a snarl on her lips, and when she turns to look at Freya her eyes are glowing amber, her lips drawn back to reveal rows of sharp teeth.

"Hey, hey, it's me," she holds her hands up in front of her, and Keelin's eyes dim back to their normal colour. She looks disorientated for a second before recognition dawns.

"Freya?"

She's hurt. Crimson bleeds across her back and drips down from her forehead, and there are claw marks across her shoulder blades.

"You're hurt." She'd seen her get thrown; tussling with a wolf on the side of the Hollow, and she'd landed pretty hard on the pavement.

"I'm- I'm okay," Keelin breathes out, stretching a hand over to touch her back and looking as it comes back bloody.

"No, you're not. I need to get you out of here."

"Freya, no. I'll heal fast, but your brother-"

"Can handle himself. Come on," she drags Keelin up by one arm, winces as she lets out a soft noise of pain as the wound on her back stretches out. She looks back as one of the Hollow's goons approaches, flings him back with a wave of her palm before turning her attention back to Keelin. "Come _on_."

They make it to the cathedral in double time, Freya supporting Keelin with an arm around her waist, Keelin's arm thrown over her own shoulder. She's disorientated, but by the time Freya seats her in one of the pews, true to her word the wounds on her back are healing over, though it's hard to tell the extent with so much blood.

"Let me," she hesitates before rounding the pew so she's stood over Keelin's bent form as the other woman grips her knees. She places her hands slowly on top of the wound, feeling Keelin shudder under her. She whispers the spell soft enough that Keelin barely hears it, and it takes a few repetitions but she draws back with a satisfied smile as the wounds close up almost completely.

Keelin leans back with a deep breath, her head rolling back so that she's looking up at Freya. Her eyes are dark, almost stormy, and she's covered in blood, but all Freya can think is  _she's beautiful_. She leans in then, cupping Keelin's chin and pressing their foreheads together, closing her eyes for a second. When she pulls back Keelin is staring at her, eyes wide, and she wants more than anything to kiss her in that moment, but-

"Sister," Klaus exclaims as he enters the building, bloody and grinning. Freya pulls back with a groan and Keelin uprights herself, a slight flush on her cheeks. "I wondered where you'd wandered off to."

"Must you interrupt everything, brother?" 

 

_3\. Terrified_

She wakes in darkness, heart pounding out a staccato beat in her chest as she struggles to catch her breath, the last dredges of a nightmare lingering in the clench of her fists around the sheets beneath her, the sweat on her skin. She wakes in darkness, and she's alone.

She hadn't been when she first fell asleep, and that fact sends her heart racing even faster, despite the air she's trying to swallow down to calm herself. It takes a few minutes to escape the sheets sticking to her bare legs but she manages it, pulling herself up and padding towards the living area, the wooden floorboards cool beneath her feet. It's empty too, and the calm she's managed to grab a hold of is slipping away already.

Keelin fumbles for her phone, finds it on the counter and dials with shaky fingers, closing her eyes and breathing in and out slowly. The dial tone continues for so long that she worries she's not going to get through, but then she hears her. Freya.

"Hey, I was hoping I wouldn't wake you. I just went out to get some food, I'm five minutes away," a pause. Freya's waiting for her response, but she finds herself tongue-tied. "Keelin?" concern. "Keelin, what's wrong?" her breathing picks up, elevated enough that she's sure Freya can hear it over the phone. She clenches the phone with a shaky hand, swallowing down some of the panic still lingering in her chest. "I'm almost there," Freya's doing her best to be reassuring, she can tell, though there's an undertone of something in her voice. "Just stay on the line with me, okay? I'm just passing that market stall we went to last week, the one with the jewellery you liked. It's closed, but we can go there tomorrow. The cafe across the road will be open too, and we can-"

"Freya," she finds her voice finally, suddenly, though it cracks slightly over the single word and she has to press her knuckles against her mouth to hold in the emotion threatening to spill out of her lungs.

"Hey," Freya responds cautiously.

"I'm okay."

 _I'm not okay_.

"I just... woke up, and you weren't there. I was worried."

 _Terrified_.

"I'm okay now," her voice sounds foreign to her own ears, in a monotone that sounds like she's reading off a script.

"No you're not," the voice comes from in front of her, and she looks up, the phone nearly dropping from her hand. Freya had somehow entered without her hearing, holding a brown paper bag in one arm and her phone in the other hand. "What's wrong?" she places her things on the sides, walks forward until there's barely a few centimetres between them, reaching her hands towards the other woman but not touching her yet.

Keelin hesitates, looking down, but soon finds a hand under her chin, tilting her head back up so that she's looking at sea-foam eyes.

"Keelin. Talk to me."

"I'm fine," Keelin insists, and she feels like it's the truth now, more-so than not, due to Freya's presence. "It was... a nightmare. Just a dream. It took me a minute to shake it." Freya's brows draw down and she frowns, but after a second she seems to accept the answer she's given.

"Well, you've been through a trauma. Undoubtedly, there's going to be some residual emotions. I recommend food, a movie and vodka."

Keelin snorts slightly at that despite the last dredges of fear in her chest. "Are you trying to doctor me?"

"Of course not. A doctor would never recommend vodka," Freya smooths her hands over Keelin's cheeks, cups her chin gently with both palms, staying silent for several moments as Keelin collects herself, breathing in deep and moving to cup Freya's hips. Their noses nudge first, the skim of skin on skin, lips almost touching but not quite.

"Wait," Keelin murmurs softly, pressing her fingers into Freya's hips as she leans her forehead against the other woman's. She doesn't say anything, but moves to take Freya's hand from her cheek after a second, leading her silently to the sofa. Freya lowers herself down first, and when Keelin sits next to her she tugs her so that she's leaning against her lap, raking a hand through her curls.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she murmurs, feeling Keelin nod against her shoulder. 

"Yeah," she adds after a second. "Just... really looking forward to that vodka." 

 

_4\. Gratitude_

  
She wakes up gasping for breath. She can feel the pain of the invisible grasp contorting her heart, the rushing fading from her ears as she draws in sharp breaths of air, her chest moving rapidly as she calms herself.

She hadn't had a nightmare like this in years; the kind that's left a scream at the back of her throat, and she's terrified that she actually did scream out for a second, but the warm body pressed against her own is still fast asleep so unless she was a ridiculously deep sleeper...

Freya levers herself up on her elbows to look down at Keelin, who is curled on her side, face hidden by her curls, but Freya can hear the deep exhales that confirm that she is still fast asleep. Sighing, Freya lowers herself back to lie down, spread out on her back with one arm curving under Keelin's waist, dipping her fingers under her shirt to press her palm against the warm skin of her back.

The next time she wakes up, the phantom touch of Dominic's hand around her heart still lingering, she definitely screamed, because Keelin is up, grasping her shoulders and staring down at her with wide eyes, a hint of amber in her irises that fades as soon as she sees Freya is conscious.

"Freya," she exhales in relief, quickly helping Freya into a sitting position whilst skimming her hands down to hold her elbows. "You were screaming."

"It was just a nightmare," she can feel sweat on her brow, and her breathing is still escalated.

"It wasn't just anything, it sounded like you were... being tortured."

"It felt like my heart was going to explode," she finds herself whispering, looking down at her lap. "When Dominic..." she swallows, breathing in sharply and closing her eyes. She's startled by Keelin's hand cupping her cheek, and looks up to see the wolf watching her with concern. "He stopped my heart with magic. I can still feel it."

"Freya..." her head tilts, her eyes wide and worried, and she quickly draws Freya into a hug, her palms pressing against the small of her back. It takes her a second, but she melts into the embrace, exhaling against Keelin's neck and wrapping her arms around her shoulders, breathing in deeply. She smells like shampoo and antiseptic, her day at the clinic clinging to her skin.

Freya's breathing shudders suddenly, and she finds herself dissolving into tears before she'd even thought she was emotional enough to, and Keelin's left arm tightens around her waist, her right moving up so that she can stroke her fingers through Freya's hair.

"It's okay. It's okay..." she murmurs, until Freya stops shaking, leaning up to press a kiss to Freya's forehead. She's not used to being the one who needs to be held, to be comforted, but it's a nice feeling- being cared for. She knows that her family cares for her, but this is different than that. She pulls back eventually, and Keelin brushes her hands across her cheeks to wipe away the last of her tears, before giving her a small smile. "Feel better?"

"Exhausted," is her response, but she does feel better having let it out. It was something she needed to do; let out her emotions, let herself... cry.

"That usually happens after a good cry. I'm guessing you're not used to that?"

"Not in a few hundred years."

"Crying is surprisingly therapeutic. Ice cream, too. Want me to go out for some?"

"No, I just.. .want to lie down," Keelin nods, but instead of lying next to Freya she manoeuvres the witch's body so that her back is against Keelin's chest, her head resting on her shoulder. She lowers them both down then, so that Freya's lying between her legs, breathing slowing down to a normal rate.

"You want to sleep?"

"Not really. I just want to... not think, for a while."

"I think I can help with that," Keelin's voice is teasing, and Freya's breath hitches when she suddenly turns her head to kiss along Freya's neck. She moves so they're sitting up more than lying down again, and slips her thumbs under Freya's shirt, rubbing circles on her hips. Freya can't help the soft moan that leaves her as Keelin nips at her skin, and shifts up so that she's sitting unaided, turning her head to look at Keelin, whose eyes are darkened with... something, causing warmth to spread in her stomach. It was that look, and that touch, that lead to the ultimate decision for Freya to kiss her.

  
Then her phone rings.

 

_5\. Badass_

  
They're under attack.

The house, which they'd visited to get a gauge of the Hollow's residual power, has been flooded with vampires, amounting to a small army, those of Marcel's who'd been itching for a fight since the return of the Mikaelson's.

Hayley and Hope had been away visiting Mary, leaving Freya with Klaus, whilst Rebekah is 'off moping over Marcel's latest fling' (according to Klaus) and Kol is visiting Davina's grave on a regular basis since learning of the return of the Ancestors. So that just left Freya, Klaus, and eventually, after calling Freya and hearing the tiredness in her voice, Keelin, armed with coffee and donuts.

Freya had been mid-spell when the vampires spilled in, and Klaus had instantly rose to his feet to defend her.

"You don't move from that spot," he tells Keelin, who nods readily as she stands with her back parallel to Freya's. "Only interrupt her if completely necessary. We need her to finish that spell."

She doesn't protest, despite the niggling sensation in her stomach, the annoyance that Freya's brother is choosing a spell over Freya's life. The majority of the battle is her watching Klaus take down vampire after vampire, until one breaks from the fray and heads straight for her. She reacts in anger, protective violence that has her breaking his arm with a twist of her wrist, forcing him to his knees and snapping his neck.

The next vampire that comes is harder to take down, faster than the last and stronger, and he manages to throw her back onto the floor before trying to break the circle Freya has drawn around herself, but Keelin grabs his ankle and pulls him down with her, pinning him down quickly despite the ache across her shoulder blades and extends her teeth, eyes glowing as she uses all her strength to keep him on the floor. He nearly throws her off then, and she quickly sinks her teeth into his throat, blood bitter exploding in her mouth, but he goes limp soon after and she raises to her feet, meeting Klaus's gaze.  
The room is littered with bodies, but he's appraising her like she's the only one in the room.

"Impressive," he comments.

"I'll say," a voice behind her echoes, and she turns to see Freya looking at her, arms crossed over her chest.

She feels suddenly self-conscious of the blood on her chin, skin in her teeth and nausea twists in her stomach. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and Freya steps forward out of the circle, closing the space between them easily. That causes her to pause, arm in front of her mouth, swallowing and watching as Freya studies her with darkening eyes.

"That was pretty badass," Freya comments with a smile. "You weren't kidding when you said you could hold your own in a fight."

"I guess I'm full of surprises."Freya smiles, lifts one hand to cup Keelin's chin, but Keelin breaks back after a second, causing Freya to frown.

"I need to clean up," Keelin explains. She can feel the stickiness of blood on her chin, her chest, whetting the fabric of her shirt to her skin. "As much as I love the grand gestures of romance after a battle in movies, I am covered in blood."

Freya nods, but not before taking Keelin's hand in her own, leaning forward so she can kiss a clear patch of skin on her cheek.

"Badass."

 

_+1. Healing_

 Her breathing hisses out of her as Keelin presses antiseptic-clogged cotton against the palm of her hand, cleaning out the scratches permeating the skin there. 

"Sorry," Keelin murmurs, her head bowed as she works on clearing the dirt from the wound, completely focused on what she's doing. 

It's an experience, watching her work- Freya's never seen her so focused, her eyes slightly squinted and her nose crinkling, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. 

She'd already wrapped up Freya's other hand, which had sustained similar injuries from when she'd been thrown across the courtyard by a follower of the Hollow. As she worked, Freya found herself absentmindedly playing with one of the curls shrouding Keelin's face, keeping her gaze on Keelin's hands as they skimmed over her skin, cleaning out and bandaging her hand. 

When she was finished, Keelin looked up at her, raising her head slowly so as not to jar the fingers Freya still had twisted in her hair. Freya caught her gaze after a second, feeling slightly breathless as a slow smile appears on Keelin's face. Freya lets go of the curl she'd been playing with, watching as it springs back into place and finding herself smiling slightly. 

"You okay there?" Keelin doesn't move from her position, still kneeling in front of Freya as the witch sits on the cot in front of her. 

"Yeah, just... thinking." 

"Oh yeah? What about?" 

"You." 

A raised brow, and Keelin lifts herself to her feet and moves to sit on the cot next to Freya, curling one hand around her knee.

"What were you thinking about me?" 

"That you're amazing," she watches Keelin shift slightly, ducking her head at the compliment. "What? Can I not tell my girlfriend she's amazing?" 

"You can, just... not without expecting me to do something about it in return."

Freya looks at her in confusion, about to speak but she's cut off with a gasp as Keelin twists suddenly, shifting her right leg over so that she's settled above Freya's lap, lowering herself down slowly. She curls her hands over the other woman's shoulders then, their foreheads almost touching, Keelin's curls a shroud around them both. 

Freya inhales slowly, caught off guard by the sudden closeness, the intimacy of the moment, knowing at this point anything could happen. She swallows, feeling her breathing elevating slightly, and that brings a brilliant smile to Keelin's face. 

"Nervous?" she murmurs, tilting her head. 

"Never," she responds by pressing her hands to Keelin's back, just above her waist, pulling the other woman closer and crushing their lips together, her eyes fluttering closed as she she hears Keelin's breathing hitch. Her fingers trace up and thread into Keelin's hair, and the shift of hips against her own has her breathing stuttering out of her. She pulls back after a second, taking in Keelin's parted lips, dark eyes, and smiles. 

"It's been too long since I've been able to do that." 


	6. A Decent Person (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation from Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably going to be one more part after this? Not sure :/ I wasn't really feeling writing this but at the same time I hate leaving things unfinished.

"So, dear sister. Tell me what has you so eager to kill a bunch of vampires?"

"Keelin," Freya flicks her wrist to send objects clattering off of the table. She finds the things she needs- black sand, candles, one of the vials of Keelin's venom. She places them on the map, turning to Klaus. "Followers of the Hollow, they took her from where she works. I need you to help me get her back."

"When did they take her?"

"I don't know," she runs a hand through her hair, going through the motions of setting up what she needs for the spell. "I got to the clinic about an hour ago, when she didn't show up to meet me at Rousseau's. There were a bunch of dead vampires, and one of her co-workers. She hadn't been dead long."

Taking a handful of black sand, she begins to pour it in a circle on the map, closing her eyes and chanting softly.

" _Vinde val tratunderes, vinde val tratunderes_..." She can see her. Her silhouette, shrouded by a white sheet, like with those children. Unmoving. But alive. She pulls back slowly, eyes opening as she looks at Klaus.

"What is it?"

"They have her. At the place where the Zealot took those children to be sacrificed. We need to get to her. Now."

                                                                 * * * 

"How many men?"

"At least a dozen. Some vampires, some witches, some humans. Freya-"

"You go in first, I'll follow behind and get to Keelin while you-"

"Freya-"

"-hold them off. I'll wake her up, and we can-"

"Freya," Klaus grabs hold of her forearms, stopping her mid-sentence. She closes her eyes, but all that does is make her think of Keelin, bleeding, Keelin, dead- "Take a breath."

" _Just... stop. Take a breath,_ " Keelin is there, breathing in with her, calming her. " _Focus. And know, that if anyone can do this, it's you._ "

"Okay. Let's do this."

The first few don't see anything coming.

Klaus is there, rage and fangs, ripping them to shreds before a witch throws him back against the wall with a spell. That's Freya's cue, and she wastes no time in overpowering them.

" _A cierta_ ," the witch's neck cracks painfully as it snaps to the side, the body crumbling to the ground. With the four that Klaus took down already that leaves seven, witches and vampires and a wolf- that has anger curling in Freya's stomach, that one of Keelin's own kind is doing this to her, and she feels her magic react, curl out of her and make the room shake, her breathing heavy as she steps forward.

" _Phasmatos Somnus_."

She's angry enough, powerful enough that they all fall, all except the wolf, who stares at her with wide eyes as she advances, not letting her gaze stray to Keelin's body.

"Wait, you don't have to-"

"She's like you," Freya manages to spit, a wave of her hand causing the wolf to practically stand to attention, every limb caught and strained. "And you do this to her? Your own kind?"

"The Hollow-"

"Will die. Like every enemy of my family dies. And you'll die too."

The wolf chokes, blood on his lips, but then he begins to laugh. "You just sealed her fate. She'll never wake up."

"What are you talking about?"

"That witch you killed? She cast a spell on your girlfriend. Good luck breaking it without her. You'll never-"

" _Delfan ectencar_ ," the wolf chokes off with a gurgle as his heart flies into Freya's open palm, and he crumbles shortly afterwards.

"Freya," Klaus is at her side in an instant, having taken out the few who had been at the perimeter and had entered at the sound of the commotion. She drops the heart immediately, moving to land at Keelin's side, ripping the white fabric from her.

Something hideous is growing in her stomach at the sight of her- she's still healing, which means the attack on her had been vicious- scabbing over wounds all across her body, bruises mottling her skin and her eyes swollen over.

Swallowing, Freya looks up at Klaus, who is hovering over the two of them, watching the door. "Klaus, we need to get her out of here," she tries to keep her voice steady, tries to keep her gaze away from Keelin and the multitude of injuries she has. "To the bell tower, where she can h-heal," her voice cracks slightly, and Klaus kneels at her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Then let's get her out of here."


	7. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keelin finds out about Freya's history with Dahlia (and it's in no way pretty)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As requested by Nae! I whipped this one out fast, so if there are any mistakes I apologise, I was in the zone *determined*

She wakes with a sharp inhale of breath, the nightmare clinging to the edges of her mind as she sits up, trying to steady her breathing and calm her pounding heart. Sweat stains her skin and she looks around wildly, her eyes adjusting to the dark enough for her to see the sleeping figure curled up next to her.

Keelin. She was with Keelin. She was safe. But...

 

 _"Ungrateful child!" Freya struggles as Dahlia drags her through the snow towards their hut, bony fingers biting painfully into her arm before she's thrown to the floor, her wrists twinging as she throws her hands out to stop her fall. She turns so that she's sat facing Dahlia, eyes wide as she skids back away from her advancing form. "I've given you everything! And you give me nothing but anger in return," a firm hand collides with her cheek and Freya's head snaps to the side, breathing rushing out of her._  

 

She still can't breathe. Her heart is racing, and she struggles her way out of the sheets, partially aware of the figure next to her stirring. When she finally frees herself from the bed she rolls over the edge, landing painfully on her knees and her wrists jar as her palms hit the carpet, the pain familiar and blinding.

"Freya?" the voice behind her is clogged with sleep, confused, but she can barely hear it over the roaring in her ears. "Freya!"

A warm body presses up against hers, bare arms wrapping around her shoulders to lift her, but she fights against the hold and breaks free by reaching back, pressing a hand against the bare skin of a stomach and pushing with enough force and a hint of magic that the other woman hits the side of the bed.

 

_She's beaten and bruised. Blood in her hair, her lip split open, her breathing ragged as she fights against the emotions bubbling up in her, the room beginning to shake._

_"_ _Stop it," she raises shakily to her feet, facing Dahlia and pushing her hair from her face. "I want you to stop."_

_"You're an ungrateful child. Ungrateful children deserve to be punished."_

_"_ _I'm not a child anymore, Dahlia. I'm not doing this, anymore."_

_"_ _You dare? You dare to leave me, too?"_

_Too?_

_"You've taken everything from me. My life, my child-"_

_"What happened to your son was your own doing," Dahlia sneered at her, advancing slowly. Freya holds out a hand, hissing out a spell and the other woman is thrown back, hitting the wall. She crumbles, and Freya takes a step back, eyes wide, before covering her mouth with her hands._

_What had she done?_  

 

The room is shaking.

She can feel it, the floor trembling beneath her fingers, the sound of objects falling from surfaces and thudding or breaking on the impact of their fall. Her breathing is harsh, fast and practically wheezy in her ears, and her vision is so flooded with tears she can barely make out the room around her.

"Freya," that voice again, softer, cautious, a shadow in the corner of her vision and she raises her head slowly. Dark eyes, wide and scared, a mass of curls. Keelin. "Look at me," hands slip under her own, lift them up off the floor and fingers wrap around her palms. "Watch me."

Keelin inhales deeply, watching Freya with a steady gaze, and the other woman draws in a shuddering breath, trying to mimic her girlfriend's easy breathing and failing.

"Breathe," she brings Freya's hands to rest palm-up against her chest so that she can feel her heart, the even _thud-thud-thud_ of it under her skin. "Come on," she says encouragingly, as Freya manages another breath in and lets it out shakily, her vision beginning to clear. It feels like forever, but eventually she's able to breathe without feeling like her chest is going to explode. Keelin is staring at her with thinly-veiled worry, keeping her hands over Freya's on her own chest.

Freya swallows, clearing her throat and looking away after a second, shame curling in her stomach.

"Hey, hey," one of Keelin's hands free up to curl around Freya's chin, turning it back to face her. "Talk to me. What happened there? You just created a small earthquake."

"Nothing," Keelin's head tilts, gaze scrutinising. "Just a nightmare," she amends quickly, removing her hands from Keelin's chest and standing, wiping her sweaty palms on her legs. She moves over to the window after a second, yanking it open to take in the cool air, and the lack of movement behind her is worrying.

When she eventually turns, after taking in enough fresh air to cool the sweat on her skin, Keelin is still sat next to the bed, her legs drawn up with her arms wrapped around them, her chin resting on her knees as she watches Freya in silence. She expects her to be mad, to retaliate against the wall Freya's put up, but all she does is sit there, and that's even more worrying.

"Keelin..."

She knows from experience, from shoving Keelin away from her at the compound, that the wolf doesn't react well to being pushed away, so the fact that she's not being yelled at right now is unsettling. She hesitates, the urge to flee twisting her up inside, but she forces herself step by step towards the other woman, lowering herself to sit cross-legged on the floor. Keelin looks at her with those eyes, so goddamn dark and soulful, half-hidden by the curls falling over her face.

"Are you ready to talk to me now?" she says softly, lowering her arms and mirroring Freya in her stance- crossing her legs, pressing her palms to her knees.

"I don't-"

"Freya. Look around," she does so, at the broken ornaments and toppled photographs, books that have fallen from shelves and drawers dislodged from their resting places. "This isn't something you can avoid talking about. Clearly you've been doing so for a while, and if this is the result now I'm worried for all of New Orleans."

"I'm not avoiding," Freya avoids, her gaze on the floor. "My family-"

"Are your family. You need to talk about it, properly. And I'm a great listener."

Freya hesitates, but Keelin is staring at her with this openness that she isn't used to, an openness that makes her feel... safe.

"I wasn't always with my family. Well, not my siblings. Before I was born, my mother made a deal with another witch- her sister, Dahlia, because she couldn't conceive children. In exchange for the ability to do so... she agreed to give my aunt her first-born child, and every first-born child of her bloodline. So... when I was five.."

"Your aunt came for you," Keelin spoke softly, heaving out a breath.

"Yes," Freya closed her eyes briefly. "She wanted to grow stronger, and the first-born's of our line are always the strongest. So she planned to make her own coven, but that all went away when my mother turned my siblings into vampires," her fingers knotted into the carpet below her as she let out a deep breath, bracing herself. "It was the biggest form of betrayal, my aunt thought, a second blow to an already open wound after my mother abandoned her in the first place. She couldn't take it out on my mother, so she took it out on me," she feels Keelin move forward, knees dragging across the carpet as she closes the space between them and curls her hands around Freya's own, staring at her with those eyes. "It started off small. But then she got angrier, and angrier... I longed for the centuries that we had asleep, the time when she couldn't hurt me. But every year we woke was another year of torture, mentally, physically... until I couldn't bear it any longer," she startles at Keelin's sharp inhale of breath, sees the panic in her gaze and realises it may have not been the best way to word it.

"You didn't.."

"No, no," she reassures.

_Not that time._

"That was... we were immortal, no mortal means of death could truly kill us-"

"Not really reassuring, but okay."

"-and I found another way out. I ran," she looked up, feeling an ache in her chest and sudden wetness on her cheeks. She doesn't know when she started crying. "And never looked back. I managed to stay ahead of her, for hundreds of years, but... I knew it was inevitable, her finding me. We were connected, and it turned out that I'd never really been running."

Her breath hitches slightly at the end of the sentence, and Keelin's eyes are overflowing with sympathy as she pulls the witch towards her with her hands on her hips, drawing her forward so that she's resting on top of Keelin's knees. One of Keelin's hands move to cradle the back of her skull as she holds her close, and Freya knots her fingers in the front of Keelin's shirt, feeling herself begin to dissolve into sobs, harsh and heavy breaths in her chest and tears soaking into the fabric covering Keelin's shoulder.

Keelin is muttering soothing words in her ear, so soft it's just a blur of sound, but it's comforting all the same as she rocks her gently, until her breathing calms down and she draws back.

Keelin thumbs away the tears on her cheeks, looks down but not quick enough and Freya sees the traces of liquid clinging to her lashes.

"Hey..." she draws Keelin's chin up, and the other woman stares steadily back at her then. "Why are you..."

"Because, dummy, I care about you," she lets out a clogged laugh, wipes the back of her hand across her eyes. "And if your aunt was still here, I'd kick her ass."

"I have no doubt about that," Freya sighs, pressing her forehead against Keelin's and closing her eyes. "Thank you. For listening."

"Of course. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't?"


	8. Jazz Bar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freya takes Keelin to the bar as promised.  
> Bar top dancing and fluff ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Set after 4x06)

She feels way too over-dressed for a jazz bar, so Keelin stops Freya with a palm on her arm and earns herself a few minutes to change, freeing her hair from it's up-do so that it falls back around her shoulders, changing into a pair of shorts and a black top and slipping into a pair of more comfortable shoes.

When she makes her way back to Freya she finds the witch has also decided to change- a short black dress, her hair loose around her face, and she finds herself a little breathless at the sight of her.

Freya smiles as she returns, lowering the wax candle she'd been turning in her hand back onto the table. She steps into Keelin's space, suddenly enough that Keelin has to hold back a gasp, eyes wide as Freya twists a curl around her finger before letting it spring back into place.

"I prefer it like this," she says softly, raising her gaze to Keelin's. After a seconds silence, she breaks away, clearing her throat and ducking her head. "We better go."

She steps out of the room then, leaving Keelin staring after her. She'd thought...

She shakes the thought from her head and follows after the other woman. After the night so far, she was definitely ready for the drinking to continue.

                                                                  ***

"I told you," Freya's voice is overly-loud, a little slurred around the edges, but Keelin can't help but smile at the animation in her voice, the way her hands move as she talks. "I've danced on a bar top before."

"I just... I can't see it," she tsks, twisting her body on her stool so that she's facing the Viking witch, their knees brushing. "I'm sorry, you just... like you said, your hobbies include collecting the ashes of your ene- Freya?" the witch has risen to her feet, a little on the unsteady side, and Keelin's eyes grow wide as she levers herself up onto the bar with both hands, pulls herself up first to her knees and then stands upright. "Freya, what are you-" she looks apologetically at the bartender, who looks less than amused, but also as if it's not the first time he's seen this.

"You wanted to see me dance," she feels her cheeks warm at the choice of wording. "So I'm proving to you that I have, in fact, danced on top of a bar."

Her voice is loud enough to catch the attention of a rather inebriated group of women at a nearby table, and a chorus of 'Woo's!' and other cheers have Freya grinning, and the next thing she knows the music has been turned up, and true to her word, Freya is dancing.

She finds herself staring at the way Freya's body moves, stepping back off her stool at the same time and preparing herself for the possibility of having to catch the other girl. Freya is blissfully unaware, eyes closed as she brushes her hands up through her hair whilst raising her arms, but sure enough a few moments later a badly-coordinated turn and a twisted heel later, Freya is letting out a gasp and falling.

Keelin moves quickly, catching Freya with one arm under her legs and the other around her back, the witch's hands wrapping around her shoulders as her forehead knocks against Keelin's.

Freya is staring at her, green eyes wide, breathing harsh against the skin of her cheek, fingers still digging into the back of her shirt.

"You okay?" Keelin stutters slightly over the words, close enough to smell the perfume on Freya's skin, the slight tinge of sweat and alcohol.

"Yeah, I'm- I'm fine," she curls her fingers tighter into the fabric of Keelin's shirt for a second. "Can you... can you put me down?"

"Right, yeah," Keelin feels heat rise to her cheeks, quickly setting Freya down to her feet and holding her hips when she wobbles. "I think it might be time to go now."

"I think you're right," she glances at the clock, biting her lip and tugging at a strand of her hair. "Klaus will probably be wondering where I am, especially after-"

"Freya," Keelin can't help the slight annoyance colouring her tone. "That wasn't what I meant," Freya's lips part slightly, and she looks like she's about to speak before she looks down at her feet. Keelin feels a pang of guilt. "Come on," she says after a second, swallowing around the lump in her throat. "Let's go."

                                                                ***

Freya stumbles slightly as she enters the bell tower, struggling to unstrap one of her heels, and Keelin quickly moves to support her with a hand on her elbow. The witch doesn't move away, which is good, but Keelin can practically taste the tenseness of the air, is almost drowning in it. She stands silently as Freya slips off her other shoe, then moves away to grab some sleep clothes.

Now that they're back, the alcohol leaving her system and the previous hours catching up with her, she can feel exhaustion creeping up on her, and all she wants to do is sleep. She doesn't bother checking to see where Freya is, her arms aching slightly as she switches her thin black top for an over-sized grey one that brushes her lower thighs, slipping her shorts off afterwards. When she turns, Freya is nowhere to be seen, and her heart jumps into her throat before she hears the soft sound of snoring.

She finds Freya curled up on the bed, shoes dropped on the floor next to it and still in her dress. Exhaling, Keelin moves to grab the blanket at the end of the bed, unfolding it and tucking it over Freya's shoulders.

She can't seem to help herself then; her hand strays from the blanket to brush a curl out of Freya's face. She looks so much more peaceful asleep.

She tugs her hand back, only to find it caught by another, and sleepy green eyes stare up at her.

"Keelin..." she's never seen the Viking witch look so vulnerable, off-guard. "Stay."

Keelin hesitates, her palm still caught in Freya's grasp. "Freya, I don't-"

"Please," Keelin swallows slowly, watching as Freya releases her hand and shifts sideways so that there's more space on the bed, and Keelin waits one more second before sliding under the blanket. 

She's hyper-aware of the bare skin of Freya's legs against her own, the heat radiating from her skin as she remains curled on her side, her hands brushing against Keelin's shoulder as the wolf lies on her back, her hip slightly over the edge of the bed, one bare foot pressed to the floor. 

Freya's close enough that her breath is ghosting over Keelin's neck, warm and heavy as she drifts back to sleep, her body instinctively curling closer to Keelin as she does so. 

Keelin turns her head slowly, still caught by their closeness, but she's so tired, exhausted in fact, so she doesn't have the brain power to analyse this right now. 

"Goodnight, Freya," she murmurs even though she knows the other woman can't hear her. Then she closes her eyes, and lets herself drift off to sleep. 


	9. Love Potion Number 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of the Jazz bar after-party/ Some extra 4x07 Freelin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by Eden, hope it was what you meant. I'll do the aftermath of the Freelin kiss in another chapter :)

She wakes with aching limbs and a biting headache, her body feeling overheated and suffocated, probably due to the body pressed into her side. She'd forgotten for a second, the events of last night. The jazz bar, dancing, the bell tower. Freya.

The witch is curled against her, breathing warm against her neck, her arms curled around Keelin's abdomen and one of her legs hooked around her own at the knee. Something curls in her stomach, nervousness or something else, and she finds herself holding her breath, until her chest aches and she has no choice but to release a breath.

Her heart is thudding hard in her chest, and an irrational part of her worries that even that sound is going to wake up the sleeping woman.

Keeping her eyes closed, Keelin can feel the burn of tears, her emotions twisting her up. She should hate this girl. She tried, she really did, to keep her initial feelings going, but it had gotten more and more difficult the longer she knew Freya. Now she could feel those emotions edging towards something more serious and threatening than friendship. She was treading on dangerous waters, and one wrong move and she was going to drown. Her breath hitches as the other woman moves, her head tucking further into Keelin's shoulder and Keelin swallows, exhaling slowly and waiting a few more minutes before beginning the process of extracting herself from Freya.

She starts with her arms, detaching them and sitting upright slowly before lowering them back onto the bed, then moving Freya's leg away from her own and raising herself to stand. She can't help but look back at the witch- she's used to seeing her determined, angry, full of righteous fury, but she's never seen her peaceful. She looks younger, relaxed, as if she doesn't have a world of worries.

Sighing, Keelin allows herself another second to study the sleeping woman before moving away to change, stretching out the ache in her limbs and running a hand through her hair.

She'd been thinking about it for a while, but the last few days had helped her cement her idea to stay more permanently in New Orleans. She'd already been looking at apartments (no offence to Freya, but she didn't want to spend the rest of her time on a single bed in a bell tower), but unlike the Mikaelson witch, she didn't exactly have centuries worth of money to fall back on. Job hunting had been her first plan, but she hadn't had the time until now, so now was a good a time as any.

She considers waking Freya, but she didn't really want to get into an argument right now- Freya had been pretty clear about the danger of her being out without precaution, but she wasn't a child and she could handle herself.

So she gets dressed, grabs her phone and a bag, and heads out.

 

                                                                  ***

 

She ends up at a small clinic in the Ninth Ward in the end, after a few unsuccessful attempts. It's an nice place, smaller than the hectic hospital residency she'd endured but she figured it was good to start small before looking towards better and bigger things. It goes easily; she doesn't think before turning her phone off when she talks to the receptionist and ends up sitting down with another staff member, discussing briefly her previous experience and eventually arranging an interview for later that evening. She immediately regrets turning off her phone the moment she leaves the building; there's a series of voice mails, all from Freya.

"Goddamn," Keelin pinched the bridge of her nose, bracing herself before listening to each one.

_"Keelin? Where are you? I told you that..."_

_"Keelin, can you call me back? I need to know..."_

_"Call me. Please."_

_"Keelin, I swear if you don't reply I'm going to track you down myself-"_

Just as she finishes listening to the last voicemail, Freya's voice slowly getting more frantic and harsh, her phone rings, and lo and behold it's the Mikaelson witch.

Her heart is pounding slightly, and it takes her a minute to get the courage to answer.

"Freya."

Her voice remains steady, at least.

"Where the hell are you? I-"

"I'm on my way back, just..." the cacophony background noise is threatening to overtake her voice. "Just hold on. I'll be back soon, okay? I'm fine," she adds, as an afterthought.

She hears Freya draw in a breath.

"Okay. I'll see you soon."

 

                                                                ***

 

She expects anger, but Freya seems to have calmed herself down by the time she arrives back at the bell tower. Her heart is pounding against her rib cage as she tells Freya about the interview later, worry running through her veins as she waits to gauge the witch's reaction.

She's worried she's been reading into things too much, seeing things between them that aren't there. It hurts, holding back this part of herself after being so open- but she knew she was teetering on a ledge here, and the wrong word could push her off.

But she takes a leap, invites Freya for drinks, feels the sting of rejection as the Mikaelson witch brings up the usual (family drama, the never ending torture of it), but covers it well (she hopes). The sting lessens with Freya agreeing to go to Rousseau's, her heart practically leaping out of her chest as she agrees, barely managing to hold back her smile before she turns to walk away.

Yep, she had it bad.


	10. Distracted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moments in between of 4x11

She's at the clinic when she gets the phone call, and to be frank she'd been waiting for it all day.

She wasn't even supposed to be working, but they'd called in needing help and being busy with work was better than being stuck in that bell tower worrying about Freya. So she puts her worry into something productive- helping people- but keeps her phone in her pocket at all times.

So this was it. The big bad Hollow was finally being taken down. It had been a war, and it was reaching it's climax, and Keelin couldn't help but worry Freya was going to be one of the casualties.

She can't help but feel relieved when the phone rings, and Freya's name appears on the screen. She almost misses the call; she's in the middle of checking someone's chest, listening to the wheezy in-and-out of their breathing when they tell her that her phone was ringing, thinly veiled annoyance on their face.

She excuses herself quickly, passes the patient off to a colleague (she'll deal with the consequences later, job be damned if Freya's okay) and ducks into a cupboard.

"Freya?" she holds her breath, some minute part of her doubting the witch is actually on the line. Worry grows in the pit of her stomach when she doesn't get a response at first, before hearing the hitch of breathing that usually occurs when someone's trying not to cry. "Freya," she tries to keep her voice steady, her fingers tightening around the phone. "Talk to me."

" _Keelin_ ," the other woman's voice is shaky, and she can just imagine Freya, wherever she is, battle-worn and most likely injured, clasping her phone like a life-line. " _You're okay._ "

That stumps her. Okay? Of course she's okay. Freya deliberately told her to avoid any of this so that she's okay. Unless...

Unless something gave her a reason to believe she wasn't.

She knew from what Freya had told her that the Hollow caused hallucinations, visions in her victims, and it wouldn't be hard to believe that she had done the same to Freya. What worried her was what she saw.

" _Keelin?_ "

"Yeah, sorry, I... it's over, right? She's dead?" God, she hopes she's dead.

" _She's dead,_ " Freya confirms, taking in a steadier breath on the other end of the line. " _Are you at home?_ " Keelin chooses to ignore her choice of words.

"I'm at the clinic. I couldn't just sit around, waiting... worrying," she swallows. "Where are you?"

" _On our way back to the compound. Hayley's a bit shaken, but..._ "

"What about you?" she interrupts, hears Freya's breath shuddering out of her, the choked-back noise of a sob. "I'm coming over."

" _No, I-_ "

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes," she hangs up before the witch can protest any more.

 

                                                                 ***

 

She makes it back to the compound in record time, still in her scrubs, hair tied back off her face. She can't find Freya at first, but ends up finding her on the balcony, leaning against the railing with her head bowed.

"Freya?" The Mikaelson witch spins around, eyes wet and wild, makeup smudged on her skin and hair tangled, undoubtedly from raking her hands through it. She takes in Keelin's uniform and something crosses her face- fear, horror?

The emotion makes Keelin stop short, uncertain, but Freya is closing the space between them with long strides, throwing her arms around Keelin and squeezing her so tight for a second she can't breathe. She feels wetness on her skin, the shudder of Freya's breathing against her shoulder, and loops her arms around the other woman's back. She can feel her shaking, hear the quick in-and-out of her breathing, and pulls back to look at her, holding her shoulders. She notices then that the witch is bleeding; an open cut over her left eyebrow, blood drying on her face. She'll worry about that when she's calmed Freya down.

"Hey, hey," she rubs her thumbs over Freya's skin, trying to soothe her. "Breathe," she watches Freya shakily copy her own breathing pattern until she can inhale steadily enough. She tries to step back then, give her some space, but Freya lurches forward and wraps her fingers around her wrists, causing Keelin to let out a soft gasp.

The Mikaelson witch leans toward her then, keeping a hold of her arms whilst pressing their lips together. Keelin can't find it in her to respond, not now, when Freya's clearly going through something. When Freya pulls back, though, she rests her forehead against the other woman's and closes her eyes, allowing them both a moment of silence before finally asking what was on her mind.

"What happened?" she leads Freya to a bedroom, pulls the emergency kit out of her bag after leading the witch to the bed. She begins cleaning Freya's wound, watching her carefully.

Freya breathes in deeply.

"I can't," she murmurs. "Not now. I just... I need some time, with my family. Elijah..." Keelin nods in understanding, finished cleaning the wound and stitched it up. "You should go home."

That word again. _Home_.

"Are you sure?" it feels like she's being pushed away again, like after she was attacked outside the clinic, but this time she finds herself more willing. She doesn't know what truly happened to Freya, but she's sure that she'll open up to her about it when she's ready.

"I'm sure," Freya smiles thinly, reaching up to tuck a curl that has escaped from Keelin's hairband behind her ear. "I'm going to stay here tonight, but uh... tomorrow? Breakfast?"

"Okay," Keelin smiles, leans forward and presses a kiss to Freya's cheek, giving her hand a squeeze. "Be careful, okay?"

"When am I not?"


	11. A Decent Person (Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final part of A Decent Person, mainly because I don't want to leave it unfinished.

"She's not waking up," Freya's voice is hollow, her hand holding Keelin's limp one, having finally settled there after hours of performing spells and relentless pacing.

Klaus is watching them from the doorway, frown in place.

"I need to do something."

"What, exactly, do you plan to do?"

"That werewolf said the witch had cast a spell, that Keelin was trapped in her own mind. So I need to go in there and find her. I'll use the spell that helped find Rebekah when she was trapped in Eva Sinclair's mind."

"From what I recall, that was an extremely dangerous spell that threatened the life of our sister."

"Well, if I don't do it, she stays like this," she gestures to Keelin's now-healed body, barely a trace of her injuries left. "And she'll eventually die anyway. It's a risk I have to take."

Klaus, sighing, uncrosses his arm and detaches himself from the wall.

"Okay. What do we need to do?"

Hope ends up being their saving grace. Though Hayley had been reluctant, she understood that Keelin was important to Freya, knew that it had little risk to her daughter (given how she was more powerful than Freya by far, and how being anchored to Klaus would help her), and had agreed to allow the youngest Mikaelson to perform the spell. Hope looks nervous, understandably, gripping her father's hand and watching as Freya lies herself down next to Keelin's unmoving form, hissing out a breath as she pushes the small knife she'd been holding into her upper thigh.

_"Pontem praesidia. Anchora Immortalibus. Per mentami heava cor amine. Pontem Praesidia. Anchora Immortalibus."_

 

                                                    ***

 

She wakes in a double of the bell tower, the canvas version set in Keelin's mind darkened and gloomy. She raises herself to her feet slowly, pulling the knife from her thigh and treading slowly towards the next room, taking in the bed, the sheets un-tucked and thrown at the end of the bed.

Her gaze tracks towards the stairs, and she sucks in a breath at the sight of a splash of red against the wooden boards. She follows it down slowly, stopping short at the sight of a body at the bottom of the steps. It's a woman, or maybe a girl, spilled across the bottom steps as if she'd fallen, head tipped back and blue eyes wide open, lifeless. She looks about twenty.

Her body is wrecked; bone penetrating the outer layer of skin, cuts and bruises and blood. Freya steps around her slowly, reaches the bottom of the steps and stops again when she hears a voice.

"You're not real," the voice murmurs. "This isn't real. This isn't- I'm dreaming. Or going insane. Either one, not good considering I've been kidnapped by the followers of a psychopath."

She knows that voice.

Keelin.

She rushes towards it, finds the source of the voice and pauses in the doorway as she spies Keelin, pacing back and forth and raking her fingers through her hair.

"Go away," she mutters, seemingly talking to herself. "Go, just go..."

"Keelin," the other woman spins, eyes wild, almost trips over herself as she backs away. Her irises are glowing amber, the beginnings of a snarl in her throat.

"Not her. You can torture me with every guilt trip I've ever had, but not. Her."

"Keelin, it's me," she tries to move forward, but Keelin growls, actually growls at her.

"Stay away from me."

"Keelin-"

"You'll hurt her too, you know," a soft voice, from behind her. It's the girl, blood dripping from her mouth as she talks, dragging one leg behind whilst walking past Freya. "You always knew you would, hurt someone like you hurt me. It was just a matter of time."

"Stop it," Keelin drops to her knees, bracing the floor with her hands, her face hidden by her hair. "Please," her voice breaks, and Freya immediately shoves her way past the girl (whoever she is) and crouches in front of the other woman.

"Keelin," she places a hand over Keelin's, feeling her flinch. "Look at me."

Dark eyes look up at her, wet with tears, and the wolf woman draws in a hitching breath.

"It's me," Freya promises. "I came to get you out of here."

"How do I know you're real? It's been days, and I've seen so many-"

"It's been hours," Freya says slowly. "Almost half a day. You were taken from the clinic, I tracked you down, but a witch cast a spell and trapped you in here-"

"Where is here? It looks like the bell tower, but-"

"We're in your mind," Freya strokes her thumb over the top of Keelin's hand. "I'm going to get you out of here."

"Don't listen to her," the girl stands over them. "She doesn't know what she's talking about."

"I know you're not real," Keelin says, latching onto Freya's hand with her own. "You died a long time ago."

"Yeah, thanks to you."

Keelin inhales sharply, looks back at Freya as if expecting to find something horrid there. But Freya just looks at her, carefully, taking a second to think over what she wants to say.

"She was your first kill."

Keelin nods, another tear falling down her cheek. "Her name was Laurie."

Laurie is watching, head tilted, blood making a slow pathway down her chin and neck.

"Tell me about her."

"She... she was my roommate in college. About six months after we met, I asked her out. She was perfect, or so it seemed. But we hit a rough patch. We were driving, and we got into an argument, and I looked away from the road for one second-" her eyes close, and Freya looks at Laurie, who is staring down at them stonily.

"I woke up on the side of the road. I couldn't move. Laurie was still in the car, and she was gasping- for air, asking me to help, but I couldn't get to her, and she..."

"She died," Freya finishes.

"But now she's here," Keelin looks up at the woman mournfully. "I don't understand."

"The last time I performed this spell, it was because my sister was battling the original spirit of the body she was possessing at the time," she catches Keelin's look, shrugging. "The world collapsed as soon as the original spirit died, dragging us out. Since it's only you, and no one is possessing you-"

"You think I have to to kill her," Keelin swallows. "Freya, I- I can't, I-"

"She isn't real."

"I know. But she looks real. Sounds real. Feels real."

"I can't do it, Keelin. It has to be you."

"Freya-"

"If you don't do this, you're going to die."

That stops her short, and she slowly raises herself to her feet, her breathing a little unsteady as she steps up to Laurie, who tilts her head.

"You're going to do it again, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry," she breathes. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you."

"A bit late for that."

Freya stands up next to her, presses the knife she'd all but forgotten she was holding into the other woman's hand. Keelin hesitates, and Laurie rolls her eyes.

"For Gods' sake. You were always such a little wimp. You could never go through with anything, you're just a scared, murdering little-"

Laurie's voice cuts off with a gasp, and more blood spills from her lips as Keelin pedals backwards, staring at the knife sticking out of the other woman's chest. Freya immediately presses a hand to her arm, pulling her into her side as Laurie collapses backwards without another word, and the room around them begins to shake.

Keelin looks at her, tears on her cheeks, breathing heavy.

"I'm ready to go."

 

                                                  ***

 

Freya wakes first, wrenching upwards with a gasp, and hears Hope's voice cut off, the spell coming to an end. She doesn't know how long it's been- it could have been mere minutes, or an hour.

Keelin is still un-moving next to her, tears on her cheeks, her hands clenched into fists, and a part of Freya panics in the seconds before she wakes, lurching up and gagging, doubling over as she tries not to be sick. She's shaking, and Freya moves over to her side, curls her arms around her and pulls her back against her chest.

"It's okay. You're okay. I've got you."


	12. Inevitable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little something about a thought that came to mind with the reveal of the Hollow possessing Hope, and Freya's fears about Keelin being hurt.

"Freya," Keelin's voice is laced with warning, but the Mikaelson witch ignores her, stepping towards her niece.

"Hope, what are you doing here?"

The youngest Mikaelson is stood in the middle of the road, hands limp at her sides, and Keelin can spy a smear of blood under her ear.

"Freya, don't-" Freya shrugs off the hand that Keelin places on her shoulder, stepping out of the shelter into the rain lashing down around them.

Hope remains uncharacteristically silent, and something in Keelin's stomach squirms, fear in her throat and a tremble in her fingers. Freya seems oblivious, taking measured steps towards the young girl, focus only on her. That's why she doesn't see/feel the ground begin to shake, objects around them beginning to shudder and detach from their bearings.

"Freya!" A piece of rebar shakes free from a pile and heads straight for the distracted witch, and Keelin doesn't see much of an other option- her eyes glow, and she crosses the road at record speed.

 

 

Freya wasn't sure what happened; one second she was heading towards Hope, breath catching in her chest and the rain pelting her skin, then she was eating the tarmac, gravel biting into her cheek and palms.

She'd heard, somewhere in the distance, Keelin calling her name, sounding as if she were underwater, and then she was hitting the floor amidst a horrid squelching sound and a cut-off gasp.

Groaning, she raises herself up on shaky arms, feeling light-headed, and turns to see Keelin standing above her, hunched over at the waist. Freya looks from Hope to Keelin, uncomprehending, until she sees the hint of blue that overshadows Hope's eyes.

Her gaze quickly snaps back to Keelin, and the wolf woman is swaying, straightening up slightly so that Freya can see the metal pole sticking out of her abdomen.

She looks at Freya helplessly, as the witch stares at her, un-moving, chest tight, eyes wide. She can't help but see Keelin on the floor of that house, neck slashed, blood on her scrubs.

_"This is the vision of me that keeps you up at night. The fear of what you know to be inevitable."_

"Freya..." her name comes out of Keelin's lips tinged with blood, spilling onto her chin as she takes a staggered step back. That's what snaps Freya out of it, and she skids to her feet, the roughness of the road biting into her hands, catching Keelin as her knees finally give out and lowering her back against her chest, her knees hitting the road beneath them as she sets them both down.

Hope (the Hollow) is nowhere to be seen, as if she'd never been there in the first place, but the destruction is evident around them- mail boxes uprooted, leaflets thrown across the street, windows cracked or shattered.

Keelin is breathing heavily in her ear, a slight whimper escaping her lips as Freya shifts her into a better position.

"Stay with me," her voice is shaking, as Keelin's head rolls against her shoulder and blood drips onto the arm she has circling Keelin's chest. "Stay with me."

"She's the... she..."

"Shh, shh," Freya tries not to jostle the other woman as she fights to get her phone out of her pocket.

"What are you..." Keelin's words break off as she coughs, body shaking, one hand moving to grab Freya's wrist and squeeze with enough strength that she feels her bones begin to grind together. When she's finished, her head tips against Freya's shoulder, her breathing raspy and her eyes unfocused.

"I'm calling Niklaus," she watches as Keelin's eyes travel listlessly, unable to focus properly, her stomach feeling as though it's going through the shredder. Tears burn in her corneas, and she nestles her nose against Keelin's hair as she waits for Klaus to pick up, the phone pressed hard against her ear.

_"Freya, what-"_

"I need you, now," her voice is wavering, her fingers shaking around the phone. "Outside of Jardin Gris."

_"Freya-"_

"NOW," she practically throws the phone away, turns her full attention back towards Keelin. Keelin, who isn't moving.

"Keelin," she tries not to move her too much, but the slight movement she does cause has Keelin's head rolling sideways, her eyes closed and her skin ashy, forehead knocking against Freya's collar bone. Freya draws in a deep breath, holds it as she listens hard for Keelin's breathing. She doesn't hear it at first, and then she, eventually, feels the weak rasp of breath against her skin. She releases her breath in a gust, moves her arm from Keelin's chest to curl a hand into her hair, holding her head still.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, panic in her chest, breathing hard. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm-"

"Freya."

Her head snaps up, and Klaus is crouching in front of her, blue eyes filled with concern.

"Help her," she says roughly. "Please."

Klaus nods, hesitates for a second before grabbing hold of the pipe, sliding it out of Keelin's abdomen. Freya winces as the wolf jerks slightly in her arms, but still doesn't rouse to consciousness. If anything, she gets worse, slack in Freya's arms and barely breathing.

Klaus doesn't give it another second, bites into his wrist and pushes it against Keelin's parted lips, sliding his free hand around the back of her skull and tilting her head back slightly so that the blood trickles down her throat. Freya holds her breath, pressing her face against Keelin's hair and inhaling, closing her eyes.

She hears Keelin let out a choked breath then, raises her head quickly and tightens her hand in her hair, keeping her still whilst moving her other hand to link their fingers together. Keelin eventually stills against her, and Klaus moves his wrist away.

"Keelin?" Freya breathes, watching as some colour returns to her girlfriend's face, and her eyes flicker open.

"Mm," she tries to move, wincing.

"Don't, don't," Freya's voice clogs in her throat. "Please."

"Freya," Klaus interrupts, watching as Freya presses a kiss against Keelin's sweaty forehead, curls her arms around her waist and breathes in shakily. "What happened?"

Freya swallows, barely able to meet Klaus's burning gaze.

"The Hollow," she says thickly. "The Hollow has Hope."


	13. The Night's Still Young

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Intimate Freelin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is super old, I wrote this way back in April! I've had really bad writers block but I felt bad for not updating in a while.  
> Set between 4x05 and 4x06 I guess, because that's when I wrote it, before Freelin was even canon or anything. Obviously canon divergent, Freelin timeline-wise.  
> (Also, first time smut writing, you have been warned D: I apologise if it's terrible)

It happens when they're in the bell tower of the cathedral.

Freya and Keelin are sat opposite each other, talking about magic and medicine and science, and Freya can't help but watch the way that Keelin talks. She's so animated, face lit up in a smile and hands moving in intricate gestures that she doesn't understand. Keelin has her legs on either side of the bed, and Freya is cross-legged, scooting closer as Keelin talks and talks and talks. Eventually she stops talking, and her head tilts.

"You okay?" her words cut through the whirring of the cogs in her brain, her voice tinged with concern and eyebrows drawn down.

"Yeah, I, uh... sorry."

"You have that look again."

"I'm sorry?"

"The one you had when I left, last time."

"And what look was that?"

"You looked... torn. Is something wrong?"

"I, uh..." she doesn't know how to say it. Doesn't want to, because if she does she won't be able to take it back. She likes what she has with Keelin, doesn't want to ruin it. But she wants something more. The feeling it causes in her stomach is foreign; a nervousness, a panic that's different from when her family are in danger or when she was reunited with her father.

"Freya," Keelin presses warm fingers to her chin, tilting her head up. "What's wrong?"

She's so close. She looks so worried, concerned, teeth digging into her lower lip and eyes alight. She doesn't know why she does it, but she doesn't regret it. It happens suddenly, and she doesn't really remember moving forward, all she knows is that her lips are suddenly pressed against Keelin's. Her non-reaction is even more panicking, and she pulls back not a second later, her heart racing.

"I'm sorry, I-" Keelin stops her with a look, and leans forward slowly, letting out a hesitant breath. She brushes her lips against Freya's slowly at first, before deepening the kiss, her hands curving up her neck to cup her cheeks. She doesn't know how to respond at first, but she does so, after a few seconds, moving to hold onto Keelin's hips and pulling her in deeper. Keelin lets out a muffled noise, and with her lips parting Freya manages to gain entrance with her tongue, shifting herself forwards so that she's on Keelin's lap, her legs on either side of her hips.

Keelin's tongue moves against hers, and she curls her hands up into Freya's hair, pulling back to lie on the cot with Freya on top of her. She pulls back slowly, their noses brushing as she draws in a much needed breath, her chest pushing out from the sudden intake of air.

"I-" she cuts Keelin off by kissing her again, this time slipping her fingers underneath her shirt and causing her to gasp. "What?"

"Your fingers are cold."

Freya grins, and continues to slip her fingers up underneath Keelin's shirt, tripping up her ribs and watching her shiver. She pushes her shirt up to expose her stomach, before helping her get it up and over her head. She looks down at her, tracing her hands up the smooth skin of her stomach, fingertips brushing the bottom of her bra. Keelin lurches up then, kisses her deeply and tracks her fingers across Freya's rib cage to curl round her sides, brushing up her spine. Her skin is cold to the touch, but Freya reacts in the same way that Keelin did.

"You're boiling," she murmurs against her lips. "How are you so warm?"

"Why are you so cold?" Keelin returns, and Freya chuckles against her lips. Keelin grabs the hem of her shirt and tugs, and Freya lets her pull it over her head. They look at each other for a moment, and Keelin bites her lower lip, which causes warmth to pull in Freya's stomach.

"Kiss me again," she whispers, and Keelin leans forward and presses her lips to Freya's, giving her a softer kiss this time, holding onto her hips. "More," she murmurs, and the kiss deepens, Keelin biting lightly on her lower lip. Freya thumbs her way across Keelin's cheek and cups her chin, pressing her tongue past Keelin's lip once more and letting out a soft moan. In response, Keelin pulls Freya tighter on her lap, tracking her fingers up her back to touch the clasp of her bra. She hesitates then, and Freya breaks the kiss, nudging her nose against Keelin's. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm... yeah. It's just... been a while," she moves her hand up over Freya's shoulder, before tracing her fingers down her arm to curl them around her hand.

"We don't have to-" Keelin cuts her off by kissing her again, slowly and sweetly, and she keeps their fingers interlinked as she lies back again, pulling Freya with her. It's Freya who pulls back this time, her lips tracing down Keelin's neck before she kisses her collarbone. She moves onto her chest after that, and Keelin watches her with her breath held as Freya's lips trail over her stomach. Her stomach muscles contract as Freya's breath ghosts over her naval, and she lets out a shuddering breath, letting her head fall back, as Freya kisses just above the line of her jeans. Freya unzipped them slowly, tracing her gaze back up to Keelin and meeting her eyes.

"Lift up your hips," her voice is slightly hoarse, her eyes dark as Keelin does just that, letting Freya slide her jeans down her legs until she's left just in her underwear. Freya moves back to that same position, resting her chin on Keelin's lower abdomen and looking up at her. "You okay?"

"Mhmm," Keelin's breath stutters as Freya traces her fingers along her underwear. "Peachy."

Freya chuckles, but before pulling down her underwear she takes off her own jeans, settling between Keelin's legs with her hands on her thighs, causing Keelin to inhale sharply. "Your hands are freezing," she murmurs, her breath hitching again as Freya pulls down her underwear, her bra following shortly after. 

Freya sits back to take her in then; green eyes dark as she shifts back between Keelin's legs, knees pressing against her inner thighs as she spreads them to make room for her. She travels down Keelin's body with her lips, tasting the slight saltiness of her skin, slowly kissing between her breasts and down to her naval, feeling every breath that Keelin takes as the other woman curls her hands into the sheets beneath her. 

Her breathing is slowly growing more and more elevated, as Freya gets closer and closer to the junction of her thighs, looking up at Keelin as she brushes her thumb over the ridge of her pelvic bone. The other woman looks back at her, lip caught between her teeth, holding her breath in as Freya lowers her head. 

She starts with her tongue first; licks up between her legs and hears Keelin gasp, one hand detaching from the sheets to curl into Freya's hair. The gasp turns into a moan as Freya wraps her hands around Keelin's thighs, slips her tongue up to lick over Keelin's clit. 

Keelin jerks slightly then, her thighs threatening to clench around Freya's head, a whimper leaving her throat as Freya continues her ministrations and detaches a hand from one of Keelin's thighs, sliding a finger into her entrance. 

"Freya..." she almost chokes out the name, trembling slightly, back beginning to arch off the bed. As the witch adds a second finger she dissolves into a series of moans, head pressing back against the pillow and fingers knotting tighter into Freya's hair. 

Her thighs are shaking, and she scrapes her nails across Freya's scalp, causing her to moan and the next instant Keelin's coming apart, trembling and letting out a whimper-moan. 

Freya pulls back, and Keelin is panting, eyes closed, letting go of Freya's hair and dropping her hand back onto the bed. After a second she opens her eyes, spies Freya still kneeling between her thighs, watching her, and she can't help the blush that crosses her cheeks at the scrutiny in her gaze. 

She pulls herself up then, kisses Freya and tastes herself on her tongue, knots her fingers into Freya's hair with one hand and grips her hip with the other. 

"Wait, wait," Freya pulls back, leaving Keelin looking confused and slightly hurt, staring at her. Freya smiles though, cups Keelin's cheek and kisses her again, softly. Keelin can see it, though; the underlying nervousness, worry in her green gaze. "Not tonight," she says softly, and Keelin nods, leans her forehead against Freya's slowly. "Was... was that okay?" she asks after a second, and she can't quite meet Keelin's gaze. 

The other woman instantly tilts Freya's chin back up so that their eyes meet, a hint of gold highlighting dark brown. 

"That was more than okay," she smiles, and Freya blushes slightly, which has Keelin grinning, nudging the witch's shoulder. "Who knew the big bad Mikaelson witch had  _feelings_." 

"Shut up," Freya grumbles, cheeks still pink as she raises herself to stand, heads over to find a over-sized shirt. She can't keep her gaze from Keelin as the other woman pulls it over her head, the hem barely reaching her thighs. 

"So," Keelin moves closer, gaze travelling down Freya's body as she presses her fingers into her hips. "How long have you been..." 

"I don't know," Freya hesitates. "It's... been a long time. And trust me when I say, long for me is very different than.."

"I don't need to know all the details," Keelin smiles reassuringly, brushing her thumb over Freya's cheek. "We have time." 

That catches Freya's attention, and she feels her cheeks heat up again. 

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah," Keelin repeats, smiling warmly. "I'm planning on staying for a while yet."


	14. Necessary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When facing off against some witches, Freya has to deal with her fears of Keelin being injured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one I wrote a while ago, back in May. I've not had much inspiration to write lately, but I have a tumblr if anyone wants to send prompts - https://aseriesofmiraculousmoments.tumblr.com/

She doesn't see exactly what is happening to Keelin, but she hears it. Hears the shouts of distress turn into screams of agony, and something in her snaps, causing a flood of power in the room. The witch she had been facing off is thrown back, her body contorting, and she's dead when she hits the floor, blood running from every orifice.

She doesn't really look when she enters the room where the screams have now died down, flinging a hand that sends the last remaining witch into the wall, knocking them out instantly. She doesn't see Keelin at first; the room is too dark, a few candles lit here and there, but she finally makes out a silhouette distorted by the thrown shadows in the corner, looking bigger and more hunched over than a human body should.

"Keelin," she speeds over, but is jerked to a halt when the crouched figure lets out a growl, more like a snarl even, and she finds a yellow-eyed wolf staring back at her. No, not _a_ wolf.

Keelin.

Keelin watches her with pained eyes, panting through bared teeth, blood on her fur. Swallowing, Freya lowers herself to sit on the floor, trying to make as little movement as possible. This is a wolf, yes, but it's _Keelin._ Something in her knows that she won't hurt her, not deliberately. When she's sat, her legs crossed beneath her, she catches Keelin's eyes again.

She looks less volatile than before, somehow, but there's still the rumble of a growl in her chest, a shake to her shoulders. But she isn't attacking, and she isn't running away, so she takes it as a hint that Keelin is in control, to an extent. She reaches out a hand carefully, fingers inching closer to Keelin, but she stops when the wolf's growl picks up again.

"Keelin," she says softly, her breath hitching in her chest. "It's okay. I want to help you. I can turn you back," she promises, holding her breath until Keelin responds. She does so, as well, eventually, padding forward with a slight limp before practically collapsing, her head landing on Freya's lap. Freya inhales sharply, hearing the wheeze-growl of Keelin's breathing, before carefully placing her hands on the wolf's side, feeling the soft fur shifting under her fingertips, matted with blood.

She begins to mutter under her breath, feeling the familiar warmth of magic spreading from her chest and down her arms, her eyes falling shut as it reaches her fingertips, but they snap back open as Keelin lets out a whine. She's shifting beneath her, and she has no choice but to tighten her grip, muttering a quick spell that weakens Keelin to the point where she can no longer fight her, though it pains to do so. She continues then, muttering the spell, her eyes tracking back up to the wall in front of her as more whines and growls leave Keelin's throat, causing tears to build in her corneas.

She draws her back to herself, little by little, feeling the shift as fur recedes to give way to bare skin, but she doesn't look down until she's finished. Keelin pants out breath after breath, curled up against Freya, her hand moving to clasp the witch's thigh as she shakes. There's blood on her skin, gouges on her back, cuts on her legs, and she's still wheezing a little with each breath.

What terrifies Freya more is when she lets out a small sob, her body contorting in response to the pain that it causes her, and Freya instantly begins to mutter under her breath again, until she can dim the pain for her.

But she's still crying.

Clutching at Freya's leg, shaking, face hidden by her blood-stained curls, and Freya doesn't hesitate to pull her up, struggling slightly, to get her into a sitting position on her lap as she straightens out her legs. She wraps her arms around Keelin's shoulders to hold her closer, and Keelin in response tucks her head under Freya's chin, holding onto her shirt with trembling fingers. This position causes Freya to feel the slick of blood against the forearm pressed against Keelin's back, and she knows she has to get her out of here.

"Keelin..." her voice startles Keelin, but she pulls back from under Freya's chin to look up at her, eyes watery and tears on her cheeks, her lips pursing as she tries to hold back the emotions building in her chest. She looks absolutely terrified. "I need to get you back to the church. We need to go."

She waits for Keelin to tell her that she can't, that she doesn't feel like she can, waits for the woman's emotions to shake loose. This doesn't happen, and Freya feels something warm curl in her stomach as Keelin draws herself back together and nods, blinking loose the last few tears and sniffing. She extracts herself from Freya to raise to stand, but she's wobbly on her feet, and Freya presses a hand to her hip to hold her up.

"Freya?" Keelin flinches back at the unfamiliar voice, almost falling over again, but Freya hooks an arm around her waist and looks at the intruder. Relief spills out of her as she realises she knows him.

"Elijah," she breathes out. He doesn't say much else- he's already moving over to the two of them, and despite having seen him before Keelin is still shaken, trying to back up as he walks closer. "It's okay," Freya turns her head to her, catching her gaze. "Keelin."

The wolf's eyes track back to Elijah, watching silently as he pulls the long coat he'd been wearing off his shoulders and carefully balances it over hers, careful not to touch her skin. Slowly, she moves her arms to draw it over, covering her body up. Her hands are shaking too much to do the buttons up, and Freya ends up taking over, keeping a reassuring smile on her face the entire time.

"What happened?" Elijah finally questions.

"Witches. I don't know if they're involved with the Hollow... they weren't focused on me, though," she glances at Keelin, who has her hands wrapped around her shoulders, and is staring down at the floor. "I don't know if she's strong enough to walk. I had to weaken her, to turn her back..."

"Turn her back?"

"One of them forced her into her wolf form," Keelin shudders at the reminder, her eyes sliding closed. "I couldn't- I had to..." she trails off, the warmth that had been in her stomach previously turning into daggers. She can feel her throat closing up, her fingers shaking.

"May I?" Elijah decides to move on, offering his arm to Keelin. She looks at him cautiously, and Freya remembers that the last time Keelin saw Elijah was when he ripped Dominic's heart out and let him drop off the balcony at the party. She seems to decide to take it, however shocked she is when instead of helping her walk, the brother Mikaelson simply decides to scoop her up into his arms.

They arrive at the church on fast feet, and Elijah is insistent on taking Keelin all the way up to the bell tower, settling her on Freya's mattress before taking off, his goodbye to Freya being a kiss on the cheek. Keelin looks tiny on the bed, bare feet pressing to the wooden floorboards, shoulders hunched over, face hidden by her hair. Freya crouches in front of her, tucking her hair behind her left ear, and finds dark eyes staring blankly back at her.

"Hey," she moves her hand over to Keelin's cheek, stroking her thumb over the ridge of bone under her eye. Keelin comes back to her slowly, eyes focusing on the blood on Freya's shirt before tracking up to meet her gaze. "How are you doing?"

"Sore," her voice croaks on the first word she's spoken since they arrived at the building they'd been attacked in. "Freya-"

"Shh," she leans up to press a kiss to Keelin's forehead, and undoes the first few buttons of the coat, not to expose her but so that she can move around behind her, carefully lowering the back of the coat to lay bare the gouges on her back. They're worse than the scratches on her legs and stomach, the cuts and forming bruises she'd seen on Keelin's arms, so she works on them first, pressing her palms to Keelin's shoulders as gently as she can. She mutters a healing spell under her breath, and feels a shudder run down Keelin's back as it starts to set in. When she's finished, Keelin is hunched over, hands curled around her arms, her eyes shut.

"That's the worst of them," she pulls the coat back up over now-smooth skin, and moves back around to stand in front of Keelin, who looks up at her slowly. She doesn't know what causes her to do it, but she leans down and cups Keelin's chin, kissing her gently. When she pulls back, Keelin is staring at her.

"Why?" she murmurs, her chest heaving slightly.

"I was terrified," the words slip out of her without much thought. "When I heard you, screaming..." the emotions she'd managed to hold back before rise up to the surface, her breathing shuddering out of her. "And I hurt you," that causes tears to flood her vision. "I'm sorry."

Keelin tilts her head, gaze softening, and reaches over to clasp Freya's hands in her own.

"Hey, hey no," she swallows as if there's something sharp in her throat. "You have nothing to apologise for," she manages to stand then, still holding Freya's hands, and this time it's Keelin who kisses her, chapped lips against soft ones, her hands moving slowly to trace up Freya's arms, cupping her shoulders. Freya pulls back though, breathing stuttering.

"I-I-"

"Freya," Keelin's voice is stronger, though still a little rough, and there's a hint of a smile on her lips, a glimmer in her eyes that hadn't been there before. "I'm okay. Because of you. Now shut up and kiss me."


	15. What Is It You Feel For Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little in-between, from when Freya meets Keelin at the hospital until they reach the compound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by captainmoodiehippie on tumblr! Hope it's okay, still getting over my writer's block :/
> 
> Couldn't really see Freya and Keelin walking all the way back, hence, Keelin drives.

_"What is it you feel about me, Freya Mikaelson?"_

The words that she wants to respond with get stuck in her throat, and she finds herself drawn to every expression Keelin makes, eyes flitting down to her lips for a second before she looks back up. Keelin is staring at her, patiently waiting, all eyes and they're so dark, full of something indecipherable, and Freya leans forward then, cups her cheeks and kisses her, feeling more than hearing Keelin gasp.

She draws back slowly, a smile in place at the slightly breathless expression Keelin holds, keeping her hands on her face and stroking her thumbs over her cheekbones.

"I'd much rather show you."

That gets a more visceral reaction from Keelin; her lips parted, eyes slightly hooded, and Freya kisses her again to get the taste of it, feels Keelin's tongue slip past her teeth, fingers pressing into her hips before digging into the skin there.

She breaks back after a second, breathless, eyes opening to the brightness of the morning sky around them, remembers where they are.

Words aren't needed; she slips her fingers through Keelin's and pulls her up, coffee discarded as she practically drags Keelin towards her car, the other woman laughing at the eagerness of her girlfriend.

"Wait, wait," Keelin turns Freya, only to press her against the passenger side of the car, the bag slipping slightly off her shoulder as she kisses her, hands bracing either side of the car so that their bodies are aligned. This kiss is gentler, the barest touch of skin on skin, but it leaves Freya more breathless than before. When she pulls back, her kisses travel across Freya's cheek, press slightly under the skin of her ear before she drags herself back, hands sliding down to hold the other woman's hips. Their foreheads nudge together, and Keelin bites on her lower lip as she watches Freya.

"Take me home," the witch breathes out, and Keelin nods quickly, keys slid out of her pocket to unlock the car.

It's a journey of silence; Keelin driving barely at the limit, eyes on the road as Freya twists in her seat to watch her, warmth building in her chest and the junction of her thighs with each passing second.

She finds herself breathless as she often does when she gets the chance to look at Keelin properly; with the light filtering through the window her face is bright, eyes so light they look as if they're glowing. She reaches over then, stretches out an arm so that her palm brushes Keelin's thigh, fingers edging up under her shirt to press against bare skin.

Keelin's breath hitches, fingers tightening around the steering wheels, and Freya notes that when she parks she's slightly shaky, finds herself grinning and when Keelin looks at her, she scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"Shut up," she frees herself from the seat belt and leans across the seat, cupping Freya's cheek and kissing her deeply. Freya can't help but smile into the kiss, raising a hand to brush over Keelin's cheek, tucking her hand around the back of her neck to pull her closer.

She's feels warm, something in her clenching as Keelin sinks her teeth slightly into Freya's lower lip, and she draws back to a look of confusion.

"Inside," she has to force herself out of the car, away from Keelin, because if they don't stop now they'll never make it to her intended location.

She doesn't bother to check if there's anyone inside the compound; doesn't want to stop in her tracks because she knows that if something stops her now, she doesn't think she'll be able to go through with this.

Keelin seems to sense her nervousness though; stops her with fingers around her wrist, turns her so that they're facing, kissing her again before pulling back,smiling reassuringly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I..." she looks down, hesitates. "When I say it's been a while, I'm not understating-"

"Hey. You don't have to explain yourself to me-"

"I want to," she interrupts. "Keelin, I haven't had this in a long time. A long time," she repeats, holding Keelin's hands between her own. "I want to do this right. I want to do right by you," Keelin's head tilts, eyes slightly wide. "I didn't treat you kindly, when we first met. It still... astounds me, that after all this, you still... care for me. You're a much better person than I am," Keelin goes to talk, undoubtedly attempt to dissuade her from that line of thinking. "I wasn't lying when I told you that I wasn't a decent person," she continues, but she's smiling. "But I'd like to be. For you."

Keelin's expression is heartbreaking, full of emotion and Freya kisses her then, kisses her until she's breathless, until her heart is pounding in her chest and she continues to do so even as she's pulling Keelin up the stairs, to the bedroom, fighting her shirt over her head and pausing then, eyes travelling over the expanse of skin that has been revealed, biting her lip and holding her breath.

Freya is the one who breaks the silence, as Keelin steps forward and curves her hands around her hips.

"I'm not sure about a lot of things," she murmurs, her own hands pressing to Keelin's waist, revelling in the hitch of breath she gets when she brushes her thumbs over bare skin. "This life, this city... my family. Everything's so... fragile right now. But I know one thing. I'm sure about you."


	16. Weakness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This is the vision of me that keeps you up at night".   
> A brief look at how Freya deals with the fears of losing Keelin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second prompt by captainmoodiehippie on tumblr :) Hope it's okay!

It stays in her head for days.

Even after she sees Keelin the next morning, after she protects her from the Hollow, after the Hollow is gone...

She can't get the image out of her head.

Keelin, sprawled across the floor in her scrubs, blood on her skin and throat slashed.

Dead.

The worst part of it is that when the Hollow entered her mind, it hadn't been the first time she'd seen Keelin like that.

It had started when Dominic had first threatened Keelin, made her really think she could be gone. She'd seen her when turning the corner- hanging from strings like one of Lucien's puppets, mouth slashed into a gruesome smile. When in their bedroom, bleeding from every orifice with black dahlias spread around her. Anywhere and everywhere, dying.

"Freya?" Keelin's voice is soft as she enters the room, trailing a hand across the back of Freya's neck as she makes her way to stand in front of the other woman, pressing their hands together. "Are you coming to bed?"

She looks as exhausted as Freya herself feels; circles under her eyes, skin slightly off-colour, hair frizzing around her as face as she swallows back a yawn.

"Not yet."

Keelin frowns, but Freya knows how tired she is from working long hours at the clinic for the last week, and it doesn't take much pressing for Freya to convince her to go to bed, though it causes a pang in her stomach at the last look she gets before the other woman exits to their bedroom.

Freya exhales slowly, bends at the waist and presses her face into her palms, steadying her breathing and closing her eyes. She can feel the burn of the beginnings of tears, the familiar ache in her chest and she's just so, so tired.

But she can't sleep.

Every time she does, she sees her- sees the different ways that she dies, sees the varying states of decay the visions of Keelin's body have reached, feels her heart hollow out more and more with each passing one.

"This is what's going to happen," she finds herself whispering. "If you don't _do_ something."

She raises herself to her feet so quickly her vision grows spotty, head spinning for a second and she has to grab blindly for the counter top until it passes.

Then she moves on to the task at hand; finds the candles in the cupboard, grabs the spice rack full of herbs and the salt, balances a bowl on top of it all and sets herself down to get to work.

She doesn't notice when the night drags away from her, sunlight filtering through the windows; doesn't keep track of the time and when she breaks out of the last of this set of protection spells the light is almost blinding. She feels light-headed, dizzy, on the verge of collapse and she can barely raise herself to her feet this time, staggers when she reaches the door to their bedroom and pauses, vision blurring as she looks at the bed.

Keelin is oblivious, asleep on Freya's side of the bed with her hand curled into her pillow, breathing steady and reassuring.

She makes her way over slowly, settles herself on the end of the bed and skims a hand through Keelin's hair, brushes her fingertips over her neck.

Blood.

She draws back sharply as red smudges her fingertips, tracks her gaze up to Keelin's to find her wide-eyed and motionless, chest still and lifeless, skin cut open at the neck.

"No," she breathes out, heart pounding. "No, no, no..."

"Freya."

There's no blood. Keelin is staring up at her, hand pressing over the one Freya has resting on her neck, sitting up slowly.

"Hey," Keelin wipes the tears that are threatening to spill down Freya's cheeks with her thumb. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I-"

"Freya," she chastises. "I know what you've been doing," that stops her, breath in her chest and fingers biting into her palms as she curls her hands into fists on her lap. "You're exhausting yourself, with those spells, every night this week you've-"

"You don't understand."

"You want to protect me," Keelin supplies softly, presses her hands over Freya's and squeezes. "I know. But please, _please_ , I don't want you to do it if it's doing this to you. I know you haven't slept in days, you're so exhausted you can barely stand, you haven't been eating-"

"I can't stop it," she breathes out, her voice threatening to break, and Keelin looks at her in confusion.

"Stop what?"

"Stop seeing you. It's like she's still in my head, clawing at my fears, and everywhere I look I see you..."

"Dead? Oh, Freya..."

"I can't lose you. I can't, I _won't_ -"

"You're not going to," Keelin's voice is biting, firm and determined, her hands squeezing harder around Freya's own. "Okay? It's you and me, you got that? I am not going anywhere. Nothing is going to happen to me."

"You don't know that-"

"I know that you'll always protect me. And I'm always going to protect you," at Freya's look, Keelin rolls her eyes. "Hey, I can do the protecting too," she protests, a hint of a smile in place, and Freya can't help the one of her own that is inching her lips upward. "But we can't stop living. I was hunted because of my bloodline, Freya, I had every reason to be living under a rock, but that's no way to live. And you can't live like this. I won't let you." 

When Freya lowers her head, Keelin doesn't let their gazes break, moving her head so that they're still looking at each other, until Freya scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"Okay," she murmurs. "I'm sorry."

"Hey. I never said you had to apologise. Just... get some rest. Please."

"It's eight in the morning," Freya protests, despite the exhaustion that has her barely able to keep her eyes open, has her leaning against the palm Keelin presses to her cheek.

"And I finally have a day off. So, Miss, Mikaelson, it's time for you to sleep."

Freya nods, and despite the niggling in her chest that sleep is just another way for the visions to get to her, another way for the nightmares to take place, she lets Keelin draw her forward until she's curled against her chest. She slips her arms around her waist then, nestles her chin against Keelin's shoulder and closes her eyes.

It's easier than she thinks; Keelin's hand is brushing through her hair, her other arm curled around Freya's stomach, and she'd been awake so long she never thought she'd sleep again.

But within five minutes, she's fast asleep.


	17. Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Expansion of the breakfast scene with Freya and Keelin in 4x09

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by CaptainMoodieHippie  
> Sorry it's been so long guys! Been super busy, super tired, and super sick. Writers block is a bitch.  
> I'll try and get on top of these prompts I promise

"I need this."

Freya practically swoops in, barely takes in the extravagant set out of the table before she starts picking up pieces of food from their platters.

"And you can't go to a store because...?"

"No time," she slips her treasures into a bag, turns to leave but finds herself caught by a hand on her wrist.

"Freya," Klaus turns her bodily, frowning. "What is going on?"

"I, uh..." she looks down, feels panic in her chest but she can't contain her smile either, pushes past the fear and just says it. "I'm taking breakfast to my girlfriend."

He seems a little startled, blinks for a second, and she watches the conflicted emotions crossing his face. She'd been terrified to reveal this to him, with good reason, considering how he's reacted to the last person she'd shown any interest in; she'd spent the last few days avoiding it, actually.

"Well. Good luck." 

She's startled by how calm he is; caught off guard in a way that makes her suspicious. Eyes narrowing, she draws her arm back from his grasp. 

"That's it?" 

She's in a rush, sure, but not knowing what Klaus is really thinking about this development is more worrying that the breakfast she has yet to prepare. 

"Niklaus, the last time I brought someone here you scared them off. LIterally."

"Well, I'm not going to let just anyone have their way with my sister, am I?" he smirks, moving back to the table to re-assort the baked goods that Freya had disturbed. "So, who is she?"

"Uh, you know the... werewolf, the one that Hayley..."

"Keelin?"

She's surprised that he even knows her name. 

"Yeah," she looks down, waiting for the tirade that's undoubtedly to come, about family and loyalty and...

"Interesting," is all he comments. "Well, like I said. Good luck with breakfast."

She stares at him for a long moment, confusion twisting in her stomach, but he seems content in what he's doing, content in pretending she isn't still there. 

"Okay... I'll be back later."

She makes it all the way to the gate before he calls to her. 

"Tell Keelin if she breaks your heart I'll break her legs!" 

That was more like it. 

 

                                                         * * * 

 

She makes it back to the bell tower in double time, hyper aware of the time limit that she has- Keelin had told her not ten minutes ago that she was leaving soon, would be there within the space of half an hour.

She sets to work as quickly as she can- she'd already set out the candles, the glasses, the plates the night before; it would have been easier to set up with magic, however she'd wanted to do this right. 

She sets out their breakfast on the plates, feeling only a slight twinge of guilt when a quick wave of her wrist ensures the food won't cool.

She fills up the glasses then, feels strange using matches instead of magic to light the candles that are the centerpiece of the whole thing. 

There's a nervousness in the pit of her stomach that she hasn't felt in a long time, twisting her up as she nervously traces her hands over her handiwork, checking everything was perfect. 

Would Keelin like it? Hate it? Think it was stupid, that she put so much effort in so early -

Shaking the negative thoughts she moved around to view the map on the large wooden table in the centre of the room, taking out the small castle she'd been given by Klaus and putting it on the compound's place on the map. 

She needed to get this boundary spell out of the way anyway, and she'd always been able to distract herself with magic...

She picked up the salt quickly, began to shake it out in a circle around the castle. 

_"Still playing with toys, huh?"_


End file.
